Secret Longing 2
by izzyred
Summary: Sora loves college. He loves living with Riku. He loves working with his friends and seeing Roxas and Axel as often as he wants. He loves Santa Cruz and he loves his classes. It's not until something predictably unfortunate happens to our irresistible hero that things start to go a little haywire... Sora/Riku, Axel (Lea)/Roxas, Xem/Sai, Ventus/Terra (SURPRISE!) and others.
1. I Love It

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** "I Love It" by Icona Pop

**Jessica would like you to note: **SO. Here we go again. I like the idea of writing about their college years, so that's what I'm doing. Whether you're reading this without having read part 1, or you've been here before and felt my pain, hello! Glad to have you! Love my readers! Anyways, I set things up so they are going to a college I actually know very little about because I've only visited, I don't actually go there. So please forgive certain mistakes in that regard. I love Santa Cruz, and it's where I would have gone if I had thought to apply… that's all I've got. Well, as usual, I'm rambling here. If you're new, get used to that and (probably) skip over this bit because I tend to just… drool everywhere...

Ok, also though? I will continue naming chapters after songs until I'm tired of creating playlists on which to base my stories sooooo *whispers* sorry.

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**I Love It**

Nearly a week after Sora and Riku moved into their apartment, life - _college_ life - began. It was a major development for Sora, particularly because he'd gone through elementary, middle, and high school believing that he'd finally blossom and truly find himself only when he was able to take that half-step into the adult world and become a college student. He was there. He was at the pinnacle of his short life, and it was thrilling. And, much as things are wont to do for Sora, it was going perfectly.

He'd enrolled in four classes for the semester, and his schedule was nearly entirely matched with Riku's aside from a single class. They sat together in massive lecture halls - Riku pretending to be calm and cool (and in all probability actually feeling just as thrilled as his partner) as Sora fidgeted and looked around at their classmates excitedly, his mind a blur of half-formed thoughts and ideas.

"Riku we should make friends with someone. Riku we should go sit next to them they look nice. Riku we should go talk to the teacher to get on their good side. Ooh! I heard from Axel that this professor is really nice. Riku-"

Riku, finally feeling the need to shut his boyfriend up, turned and grabbed Sora's shoulders, planting a forceful kiss to his lips. And though he had ulterior motives, it achieved its initial goal, quieting the brunette for the duration and for some time after as Riku smirked and turned back to the front of the classroom, noting with satisfaction that many of his targets had witnessed the act. They were all pouting.

'Fucking vultures,' Riku thought, brushing some of his silver hair away from his eyes. 'I have to be on my guard here. There are even more gay guys than Berkeley.'

Sora, still in a slight daze from the unwontedly passionate kiss, was of course unaware of the attention he drew, which only made Riku more nervous and frustrated. It was going to be a tough year.

Riku's perspective only grew more bleak as the day continued. He and Sora went to their other Monday class and four sets of lecherous eyes zoomed right in on the brunette. Riku flared his nostrils, slinging one arm over Sora's shoulders and turning to whisper in his ear.

"Mm, I can't wait to leave," he murmured, biting Sora's ear while peeking at the guys that were staring from the corner of his eye. 'Sorry, Sora,' he thought, feeling slightly guilty for being so shiesty. However, he felt justified, and satisfied, when he noted all of the bastards turning away, looking disappointed. With a smirk, he laced his fingers with Sora's and found a spot where there weren't too many other students, not noticing the look on his boyfriend's face until they sat down.

He snickered, kissing Sora on one of his (very red) cheeks, using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Can I stay like this for the whole class?" he asked playfully, nuzzling him through his shirt.

Sora cocked his head and pressed his lips together to stifle a smile, cuffing Riku in the back of the head before sliding their hands back together.

"Are you going to be this obnoxious all year?" he said, raising one eyebrow. "I'm not going to make any friends with you clinging all over me all the time. People will think we're a gross couple."

Riku laughed. "Baby, we _are_ a gross couple."

Sora made a face. "UGH, you know I hate pet names."

"I like to call you pet names, sugar pop."

"Ugh."

"Baby cakes."

"RIKU."

"Honey pie."

"Fuck, stop it, Riku, you're grossing me out. I don't wanna be one of those couples that coos at each other and makes out in public and stuff. Ew. Do you?"

Riku grinned. "Maybe," he murmured, drawing shapes on Sora's thigh with the tip of his finger. "Maybe I want everyone to be jealous of me."

"You're really gross, you know that? The guys would be shocked to find out how much of a sap you really are."

Riku just continued to grin, lifting his head to kiss Sora again right as the professor walked in. Unfortunately, they were in a fairly small classroom, which meant that there was no escaping scrutiny of any kind. Also, apparently their professor was a fan of embarrassing his students.

"Oh, hello. What a nice way to greet me," he called, staring at Riku and Sora. "Are you going to be the class couple, then?"

Riku chuckled, leaning his head against Sora's shoulder again, watching in amusement as the brunette's cheeks went bright red and he grinned, reaching up to scratch the back of his head as he often did when embarrassed.

The professor, seemingly tired of joking around, winked and turned to begin, introducing the course material and other boring nonsense for twenty minutes, after which, he let them leave more than an hour before they were due to. Since it was long before either of their shifts at work, Riku and Sora went back to their apartment and lazed around, laying on the couch together for lack of anything else to do.

"Hey Sor?" Riku murmured, toying with his boyfriend's hair distractedly.

"Mm?"

"Do you have class with anyone we know tomorrow? I mean your psych class…"

"Yeah, Axel's in there too apparently. Roxas told me it's really impacted and hard to get into though so he couldn't. Why do you ask?"

Riku shrugged. "I mean… you know why, Sora."

The brunette sighed and rolled his eyes but made no comment, knowing it would just lead to a pointless fight. However, after a few moments of mulling it over, he felt overwhelmed, needing to at least get some of his feelings out of his clouded brain. He pushed himself up from Riku's chest, looking down at the confused boy sternly.

"I can take care of myself, you know," he said quietly. "It's been shitty in the past and stuff, I get it, but…" He paused, sighing, trying to find the words. "I know you trust me, but I can't tell when you're like this if it's because you're having some weird possessive feelings that we need to curb or if you're just legitimately worried."

Riku frowned, reaching up to tug Sora back down to him and stroking his hair. "Since you know I trust you, you should trust _me_ more. Of course I want you to make friends and have a good time and be happy. I love you, so there's no way I'm going to hold you back, but you should know how people are by now, Sora. And you should realize that they want you. I was drawn to you the same way as them, and… I can't tell you how many times I had the urge to just tackle you and fuck you into the ground. Do you understand? It's like… like you're an incubus or something. People can't help but fall for you."

Sora snorted indignantly. "Oh my god, Riku, you thought about raping me?"

Riku sighed. "Yeah… and I'm telling you about it because I want you to understand."

"But not everyone is in love with me, Riku. You had feelings towards me other than lust-"

"But lust is all it takes. I'm pretty sure Tidus and Sephiroth are good enough examples of that."

Sora sighed, rolled his eyes, then moved to stand taking a few steps away once he was up. He quickly decided to move the conversation forward and pretend it was over, using the news that would follow as a buffer. "Well, anyways, I figured I should tell you now that I want to join the water polo club," he paused, glancing back at Riku and gauging his reaction. He laughed. "I knew you were going to pout."

Riku sighed, covering his face with his hands. "Have you forgotten what happens when you go around men in speedos? What did I just say."

"Riku, you're being a dick," Sora warned, holding up one finger. "You know how I disapprove of you being a dick."

"Yeah, okay, but I'm _right_, god dammit. There are a lot of gay guys around here and you're defenseless."

"Wrong. I've learned from the past. I'm not a completely spaced out, fucktard like you seem to think."

Riku cringed, knowing that if Sora was fighting him this much, he must really want it. Indeed, the brunette looked annoyingly sincere, and he found himself unable to disapprove of that. And he knew that, even if he did continue to disapprove, it wasn't likely to get him anywhere aside from fucked… or, in this case, _not_ fucked. So he gave in, shaking his head at the incorrigible optimism of idiots.

"Yeah, if you want I guess I'm not gonna argue," Riku conceded, frowning.

Sora immediately yelled "Yay!" and flung himself back onto his boyfriend, kissing all over his face and making a general annoyance of himself on purpose. Not that Riku minded. He was still, after all, very much in love and very much infatuated with Sora. It hadn't abated in the slightest. Nor had his sex-drive, which he demonstrated brutally by grinding his half-formed erection against Sora.

"Ugh, Riku," he squeaked, jumping slightly. "It's like a light-switch. You go from playful to popping a boner in like two seconds flat."

Riku laughed but made no move to defend his position, going for a shrug that said something along the lines of "take it or leave it: you love this dick." Which he also punctuated with a jab from his more demanding half. Sora stuck his tongue out teasingly and leaned down, grinning. And just as Riku thought he was going to get some tongue action, which would inevitably lead to awesome, couch-wrecking sex in a matter of minutes, Sora rubbed his nose against Riku's quickly and jumped up, laughing as he was chased and tackled into their bed.

Sora, being a natural-born tease in oh-so-many ways, giggled and let himself be pinned for a little while, enjoying the way their fluffy duvet wrapped around him and slowly got less puffy as he and Riku settled onto it. And then he kind of forgot about fluffy duvets and teasing schemes because Riku could be a sexy mother fucker if he so chose. As if reading Sora's thoughts and hoping to provide an adequate example of the ways in which he could be a "sexy mother fucker", he had leaned in for a kiss which consisted of him essentially tongue-fucking Sora's mouth while simultaneously rubbing his growing self against Sora's growing self. The friction was enough. Sora was gonna lose it. 'This is so not fair,' he thought for the thousandth time, wishing he knew what to do. He felt particularly useless when they had sex because, really, he was like putty in Riku's hands. A fact which was - unbeknownst to him - highly appreciated by the other boy. Sora also didn't know that he was kind of a natural, which meant that when he lost himself and became driven by pure instinct, he was amazing. One might even venture to say he was "erotic", which is something Riku thought fairly regularly... and continued to think as he sucked on Sora's bottom lip and the smaller boy groaned and let his eyes slip closed. Erotic was definitely the right word.

Forgetting his worries, Sora let himself be dragged under, savoring the feeling of Riku's mouth moving against his. His tongue rubbed up against the one pressing in and Riku sucked on it, making him gasp and moan. He didn't even try to hide it. Riku was rubbing up and down the back of his thighs by then, leaning down to suck on his neck while moving one hand up to remove Sora's shirt.

Sora assisted in the process and pulled it off himself, watching with slightly glazed eyes as Riku removed his own and stood to unbutton his pants. He was, without realizing, removing his jeans like it was nothing. And, having never taken to being the first one naked, he amended his actions before his boxers came off, slipping to the floor to kneel in front of Riku and take over the job of pulling off the last of his clothing. Riku, feeling a little shocked at this development, was a bit behind by the time Sora took the head of his cock between his lips and circled his tongue around… and around. He shuddered, threading his fingers through the soft hair within his reach and gasping out Sora's name. Sora, having regained some of his composure and playful nature, did not move his head on his own, and instead grabbed Riku's hips, pulling them towards him.

At this development, Riku let out an "Ugh" and pushed forward more, probably considerably more turned on by the thought that Sora wanted him to fuck his mouth than the brunette realized.

However, Sora was growing a little too impatient to be playing around and quickly revised what he was doing, taking the whole length a few times before pausing and wrapping his hand around it. He stroked up and down Riku's thigh and leaned his head against one hip, smiling coyly as he glanced up.

"Are you gonna do it, or not?" he murmured, kissing his stomach and pumping his hand once.

Riku shuddered and dropped to his knees right there, completely ignoring the bed less than a foot away. He pushed Sora onto his stomach and thanked god that they were near enough to the nightstand for him to grab the lube, because he didn't think he could wait. Sora knew exactly how to tease him, and it made him increasingly impatient the more they had sex. It was probably something he needed to consider, though not during the act itself.

Ignoring Sora's attempts to swipe the bottle from him, he squeezed some lube onto his fingers, pushing one into his protesting boyfriend before the other could do it. He knew why Sora was trying to do it himself: he lost control when Riku did it. He could always bring himself back to reality if he was the one working himself up, but with Riku, he would just go higher and higher and completely blank. He became an animal. And that was what Riku wanted.

Pausing to appreciate the way Sora arched into him, Riku pushed a second finger in, working quickly but not roughly, wanting to be inside him as soon as possible but not hurt him. He finally pushed the third in when he knew it wouldn't be painful, shuddering when Sora moaned and leaned back against him. His head rested against Riku's shoulder, providing him the opportunity to bite his ear, which he did thoughtlessly, dragging the lobe between his teeth. Riku gave in, after that, and pushed Sora onto all-fours, guiding himself inside with little in the way of warning. Sora didn't care, however, because he was gone. His mind was hazy, and all he could do was give in and moan. He crushed his face into the carpet and bit the fleshy part of his thumb, arching his back so that Riku could continue to thrust in. God, it felt so good. He'd never really understood how it could be so much better, physically, than it had been with girls but… he wasn't questioning it. Mostly because it was more fulfilling not to.

He felt Riku driving mercilessly against the spot that would make him see white after a while, causing a loud moan to rip from his throat. He was already pushing him over that edge. "Fuck, Riku…" he said, having little control of what noises escaped him. He felt fingers trail over his stomach, moving to wrap around him and give a few strokes. It was almost enough… almost… and then it was. He gave in once more. And he knew by the way Riku's cock had throbbed inside of him his boyfriend wasn't far behind. They came almost simultaneously, shivering as they slowed and caught their breath. Riku pushed his hair away from his face once he'd settled, watching a little guiltily as Sora moved to a sitting position.

But the brunette was all sunshine and smiles, even after such a debauched activity, so he couldn't help but smile too and dive for his neck. He sighed once he had Sora in his arms, wishing their carpet was more comfortable. As it was, they couldn't sit there for long without feeling like a thousand tiny needles were skewering their flesh. It just wasn't a nice carpet.

Feeling guilty for this, and the slowly developing redness on Sora's face, Riku picked up his boyfriend and dropped him on the duvet, falling next to him comfortably.

"Roxas said Axel is uncircumcised."

"Ugh, Sora," Riku flopped onto his back, covering his face with both hands. "You're really good at killing the mood."

Sora snickered but didn't stop, figuring that if Riku didn't like who he was he would have left long ago.

"Anyways, I was just wondering what that was like, you know… being uncut."

Riku rolled over and stared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you want to take Axel for a ride?"

Sora snorted. "Oh my god, Riku, no," he intoned. "He has tattoos _on his face_. The only other people I know like that are like… gang members. I don't want to get syphilis."

Riku laughed and thwacked Sora with a pillow, hoping to god he was joking.

"Besides," he muttered, interrupting the thwacking, "I've grown to like you, Sailor Moon."

Riku paused, confused by the sudden nickname. Then he grimaced, remembering where it came from.

"Don't call me what your weird friend calls me," he groaned, shaking his head at the various ways in which Roxas was ruining his life. Not only was pillow talk compromised, but now… this? Sailor Moon? Fuck. He was already getting flak for growing out his hair. Stupid society. Stupid Sora. Stupid-

"HEEEEYYY! OPEN YOUR DOOR YOU FUCKERS!"

And as if he'd read Riku's mind, found it amusing as hell and decided to kip out for a bit of fun, Roxas was at the door with his boyfriend, said boyfriend being the one howling at the top of his lungs.

In a slightly more stifled voice there was a quick, "Axel shut the fuck up!" and then a few knocks. "If you're fucking we can come back later," Roxas called through the door. Sora laughed and put his clothes on in front of a pouting Riku, throwing pants at the gloomier party.

"Cheer up, bitch," he murmured, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm going to let our interruptors in and, if you're good, I'll be nice later."

"Nice" usually meant "blow-job", so Riku couldn't exactly argue with that. Grumbling slightly, he stood and put on his clothes, ignoring his shirt for the moment since he'd be wearing one for his four hour shift later and he preferred not to around the house if he could get away with it. Sora was already answering the door, which made Riku grimace as he realized what his boyfriend looked like… which was someone that's just been fucked on the floor.

Instead of wallowing in his thoughts like he might have wanted, Riku flopped himself on the couch and started fiddling with the remote, watching Sora open the door with his peripheral vision.

"Jeez, Riku, you could've at least put some clothes on," Axel said, pointedly fixating on what he knew would bother Riku the most.

'Why am I friends with him?' Riku thought, smiling anyways and silently offering the other end of the couch to Axel with a wave of his hand.

Sora and Roxas were already deep in conversation, laughing about something and moving towards the other couch which was positioned awkwardly in the corner. They'd never really figured out how to feng shui their living space to good effect and, aside from Riku's joking suggestion that they saw off some pieces of both couches, there was no real solution in sight. Neither was worried about it, anyways. It suited them just fine.

Returning from his slightly distracting reverie about furniture and its relation to his life, Riku shook his head of silver locks and raised an eyebrow at Axel, noting that his friend looked rather relaxed. He sighed.

"Yeah I guess I'm not surprised," he murmured, grinning and half-heartedly slapping the red-head on the chest. "Any amount of time to ourselves and the same happens."

Axel laughed and winked, stretching upwards as he settled in.

"I'll tell ya, man, it's like we're a foursome made in heaven-"

"Ugh, don't ever say the word 'foursome' in reference to this group again. I don't want Sora getting any more weird ideas concerning Roxas."

Axel snorted. "Yeah, well, you're probably right about that." He glanced over at his and Riku's boyfriends, shaking his head. "They already make me jealous as hell."

Riku smiled at his own thoughts for a moment, wondering if Sora was ever jealous of he and Axel. They shared certain habits that the other two did not, after all. With this in mind, he started up a conversation about such topics to distract from the annoyance of his impending shift at work.

"So, you said you found a new dealer?" he said, keeping his voice as quiet as possible without appearing suspicious.

Axel grinned in a very Axel way and reached into his pocket, surreptitiously producing a small bag of green interlaced with bits of purple. Riku whistled and examined it closer, nodding in satisfaction before Axel stowed the goods away once more.

"Who is the guy, anyways? I don't see how he could get stuff like that without knowing some serious hook-ups."

"Ah, I don't really know him all that well," Axel admitted, scratching a hand back through his fiery mane. "He's just some kid I met at this party… I dunno I was really faded." He laughed briefly, shrugging. "Anyways, he seemed pretty reliable. Kind of dark and creepy, not that I could tell all that much about him considering how dark it was. Well, anyways, every other time I've bought from him he's insisted on it being in a dark place, too, so I still haven't figured out what kind of guy he is."

Riku nodded, figuring it didn't really matter as long as he wasn't dangerous or stupid about his operation. He was willing to trust Axel's instincts, though he would know better once they got a chance to smoke what he'd been shown.

Pausing in his thoughts, Riku glanced at the clock, noting that it was getting close to the time they'd be reporting for work. Conveniently enough, Axel, Sora and Riku had all gotten the same shift, so they left together once Riku had put a shirt on and Sora had composed himself a little more. Roxas walked them there and sat at a corner table, which had become his routine since the other three had started working at Saturn Cafe. Axel served him coffee all night and made eyes at him when he had the chance while Riku and Sora bused tables and snuck off to make out during down-time, which earned them a scolding from their manager.

"Hey!"

Riku jumped back from Sora, smirking and ruffling his hair down since it'd been thoroughly wrecked by his boyfriend's hands. Sora laughed awkwardly and looked away, his ears going bright red.

"Uhh… are there tables to bus?"

"No, but that's not the point, Sora," Aerith intoned, sighing at the two of them. "You know, I don't mind if you want to spend your break… canoodling, but if you spend every spare moment doing it, I'm sorry but I'll have to put you on dish duty all week."

Sora pretend-gaped at her, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together. "Please, oh mighty Aerith! Forgive us!"

She smiled warmly, obviously suppressing a giggle. She didn't say as much, but Riku knew Sora was her favorite employee. He didn't mind as long as she knew he was his.

"Oh, goodness, Sora get up right now and get back to your job." She shook her head, causing her long braid to sway back and forth as she headed back into the restaurant.

Riku snorted at his boyfriend and offered a hand to help him up, shaking his head similarly as they went back to work and back to the flow of their day. Things were going only too well.

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**End Notes:** So, yeah, there we go! Please note that these chapters will be shorter but probably faster in coming, so… somehow it works out? I dunno. We'll see what happens. I'm pretty set on how I want the story to progress and I have good starts on a few more chapters it's just about getting them finished. I always have trouble getting all the middle bits in order! :O anyways, I hope you liked. OH. I also figure that it should be noted that, yes, this will be very lemony. Like, seriously, I'm a pervert and it's how I like my stories. Hope y'all don't mind C:


	2. Beast of Burden

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones

**Jessica would like you to note: **Hooray! I'm on Spring Break and have time to write. I'm sorry but don't expect chapters to be this quick in coming after this week. I'm focusing on being a really really excellent student so there's only so much time in my day. Anywho, I'll try my best I promise! *determined face* Oh, you might notice a trend in the beginnings of all my chapters, btw. It is intentional and not some stupid mistake (though it's probably still stupid and worthy of your thrashings).

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**Beast of Burden**

Almost two full weeks after the start of classes, when Riku had properly forgotten that Sora had mentioned something unsettling to him not all that long ago, his boisterous brown-haired boyfriend kept to his word and joined the water polo club. And Riku was left trying to figure out what was happening.

He stared at Sora who was grinning at him as he dripped on the small square of linoleum by the front door that served as their shoe storage. No words came to him as he lowered his glasses from his face and took in his soggy boyfriend better, finally realizing what had happened. He covered his face with his hands. "Why me?" his muffled voice called, sounding more pitiful than was really warranted.

Sora rolled his eyes and gave Riku a look that essentially said "Don't even fucking start with me Sailor Moon" before sloshing along to their bedroom. He was wearing his speedo and nothing else, which was both horribly painful and horribly arousing for Riku. It was nostalgic, as well; the smell of chlorine, the painful twinge in his chest, the quickening breath that he had to hide… except that he didn't, really. He was reverting to old behaviors simply because the sight of Sora clad in his old duds made him feel as if he were stuck in the period of his life in which the boy wasn't his again. Shaking off the odd feeling, Riku stood and followed Sora, prepared to begin ranting. Instead, he was cut off before he could start by a soft pair of lips meeting his. When Sora pulled away, he was smiling, and there was a light in his eyes that Riku hadn't quite noticed had been missing since they'd started school. The sight alone was enough to soften him, jump-starting his heart and inciting a painful fullness in his chest that he could only categorize as love. He was swooning.

"How was it, baby?" he murmured, pushing Sora's hair away from his eyes. And, to his surprise, he didn't even receive a scolding for the pet-name as Sora began rattling off.

"It was so fun, Riku," he said breathily, clearly overexcited. "Apparently I have a knack for it since I'm a natural swimmer and my hands are big and my arms are long. And, anyways, they said they've needed good players for awhile and they'll probably throw me into games once I've figured out all the rules and stuff and I'll be a regular. And I met this really cool guy named Terra who showed me the ropes and he told me about his friends and whatnot. Apparently they're all from Iceland, which is fucking weird, but whatever. Oh my god, Riku, I'm so happy! I've been missing the water so much!" He flung himself on Riku again, showering the silver-haired boy's face with kisses. "I'm gonna take a shower now," he said, detaching from him unceremoniously and strolling off to the bathroom.

Riku stood shell-shocked and speechless, wondering which emotion to feel first. He was conflicted. On one hand, he was happy for Sora; he'd been honest when he'd told him he wanted him to make friends and all that jazz. But, on the other hand, he was worried. In Riku's experience, whenever a guy got close to Sora it was for one reason. There had been exceptions of course: Cloud, Leon, Axel, Roxas, blah blah blah. But he knew even those guys felt lust towards Sora since it was almost impossible not to if you were playing for the men's team. And then, on yet another, third hand (somehow), Riku was feeling jealous that Sora was making new friends and spending time with people he didn't know. He was going to turn into Vishnu at the rate he was going.

With a sigh, Riku moved and resettled on the couch, putting his glasses back on and continuing with his paper for lack of anything better to do. He'd have to wait until Sora was out of the shower to get anything he wanted to say out.

However, as he sat and attempted to regain his train of thought from before the blur of tan brunette had interrupted, he realized that he didn't really have anything to say to his boyfriend. Sure, he could warn him against the usual things. He could tell him to watch his back and be careful and not to trust anyone too willingly. But it would be to no avail, and he knew it. Sora was going to be Sora, and no matter how often he had to pull himself out of various fixes gotten into due to his own lack of caution, the kid would never lose his bright kind-heartedness, and Riku wouldn't want him to. With a sigh, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and thought of various ways he might get some of his frustration out.

'I could talk to Axel,' he thought, mulling over how the red-head might react with grimace-worthy results. 'Yeah, no way am I fucking confiding in him about this. He already knows and he'd just make me feel worse or try to get me high and that wouldn't solve anything…' Just as he was starting to give up on his train of thought, he realized that his friend's boyfriend might actually prove more lucrative. 'Roxas probably worries too. I'll definitely talk to him tomorrow if I get the chance.'

Just then, Sora exited the bathroom (humming to himself), and danced into their bedroom, putting on basketball shorts and nothing more before heading for the kitchen. Riku watched, then followed quietly, sneaking up on his partner just as he was gulping down a glass of water.

Sora jumped and nearly choked on his drink as Riku's arms slid around him, turning to grin with cheeks fat with liquid. A devious glint in Sora's eye was the only thing that told Riku of the impending fountain of water he then found himself on the receiving end of.

"Gah!" He jumped back and shook his head to get some of the water off, his eyes narrowing as a wide smile split his face. "You're on," he hissed, diving towards his laughing boyfriend.

Sora squeaked and narrowly avoided falling to the floor under Riku's weight as he was pinned and tickled.

"AH! No, no Riku! NO!" he laughed, trying to curl himself into a ball.

Just as Riku was about to turn their playing into something more intense, a loud throat-clearing noise came from around the corner.

"Uuummm," Axel's voice called, "if you two are fucking in there we can come back later…"

"Shut it, Ax, they wouldn't be laughing if they were fucking."

Axel snorted. "Hey man, I don't know what kinks they're into, okay? It's not my business, y'know? Whatever gets them off-"

Riku sighed and stood, rounding the corner with a raised eyebrow. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, cocking his head to the side.

"I know you know how to knock considering the display of such power you usually give us at highly inopportune times, so could you please explain why your superior knuckle-rapping skills weren't displayed on this night in particular?"

Axel laughed nervously, giving Riku an idea of the reason why.

"Y'see, Riku, I was just a little curious, and I could hear the noises coming from in here so I thought-"

Roxas rolled his eyes and socked Axel in the gut softly, causing the taller boy to expel enough air to shut him up. "Sorry, Riku. Axel was being a dick and I didn't realize in time to stop him for once."

Riku snickered and brushed it off, clapping Axel on the shoulder as Sora rounded the corner. They all parked themselves in their usual spots on the two couches, starting up two completely unrelated conversations as the night wore on. It had become routine for all of them to meet up after work and school and everything else on Thursdays, and Riku had come to look forward to it despite himself. In fact, he lost himself in it so much that he actually forgot his strange melange of feelings from before and laughed for hours with Axel as they discussed the finer points of the red-head's day, which always proved fairly entertaining since he was pretty much a magnet for hijinks.

In any case, by the time Axel and Roxas had left and Sora and Riku were settling into bed to sleep, Riku was completely devoid of worry, a feeling he should have savored considering how he felt the next day. He'd forgotten completely that Sora had changed his shift on Fridays because of water polo, and, suddenly, he felt - very keenly - all of what he'd felt the night before. And he was struggling to keep it in.

It wouldn't have been a problem if they'd been busy, since that would provide more work and, therefore, more distractions, but for some strange reason the place was empty for his shift, which gave him nothing to do but brood.

At some point during his brooding, however, he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder which was surprisingly gentle and soft and previously unfelt. He looked up to see Aerith, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Riku, is something wrong today?" she murmured, her voice as melodic as usual. "You seem really down."

Riku stared at her for a moment, realizing what a golden opportunity he was being given. Why had he not thought of Aerith before? She was nice. She worried for Sora as much as anyone. She never judged and she was a good listener. Everything about her screamed 'perfect person to whine to about Sora'. Thus, Riku began a tale of woe and doubt, leading all the way back to the days in which he'd simply admired his lover from afar. He also told her something he'd kept secret from nearly everyone else, barring his mother and his cousin who really had no connection to Sora anyways.

"I've been driving guys away from Sora for years," he admitted quietly, shifting on his feet. "There've been dozens of them, and he still doesn't know what happened. He thinks they were just friends that eventually drifted away. What actually happened is a lot more gruesome, and, if possible, I never want him to find out."

"Oh, goodness," Aerith said quietly, touching Riku's shoulder. "But wouldn't it be better if he knew, Riku? That way he might realize properly what you mean when you tell him it's dangerous for him. He's only really experienced a few incidences and Buddah knows how incredibly resilient that boy is. That wouldn't be enough to convince him of much."

Riku wrinkled his nose in amusement at her strange phrasing before getting back on topic. "Well, I wish it was that easy," he murmured, "but if I tell Sora about all of that, he'll break down. He'll feel guilty and he'll blame himself and he'll apologize to me like it was his fault and like I was inconvenienced. He's just too… _good_. Too pure and brilliant and unwilling to believe anything anyone does comes from a bad place. He wants to believe in the good in everyone. And he might feel even worse knowing that all of those guys he made friends with were really just after sex or something. I don't want that."

"But, Riku, telling him the truth is essential, here. If you aren't honest with each other, you'll never be able to reach an honest conclusion."

Riku sighed in frustration, realizing that Aerith just really wasn't going to get it. She wasn't seeing things from his perspective. In any case, he felt better just getting it off of his chest, even if it meant revealing everything to someone he didn't know all that well. He would have to keep in mind in the future that Aerith was good to talk to.

"Well, anyways," he said quietly, smiling genuinely at someone other than Sora or Axel for the first time in weeks, "thank you so much for this, Aerith. I really needed someone to confide in."

She nodded happily and gave him a quick hug, moving off to attend to some customers that were just coming in.

Riku watched with a satisfied smile, heading off to assist with anything he could.

At the same time, Sora was just getting home from yet another amazing water polo practice. He had some bruises and a fair amount of scratch-marks, but he was more full of energy than he'd been in a long time, and he wanted to sigh in satisfaction and throw his hands in the air and kiss Riku a thousand times. However, his elation was cut short as he realized that his boyfriend was still at work and he hadn't even gotten to see him at all that day (other than during their morning routine). It gave him a sad little twinge when he thought about it, so, naturally, he sighed and told himself it couldn't be helped, reminding himself not to dwell on the unchangeable. He'd see him when he got home, and he'd spend all night with him, just the two of them. With that in mind, he pulled out his phone and texted Roxas, informing him that he needed a Riku night. Roxas was reliable in his response, texting back that it was fine and he and Axel needed some time alone too. Sora grinned and went to shower before work, hoping that his shift would be busy and, therefore, go by quickly. Despite not working with Riku on Fridays anymore, he was glad he'd changed his shift since he'd previously worked what they liked to call the "doldrums shift" and it could get boring as hell. His new times were considerably busier, and would definitely keep him from mooning over Riku too much.

Hoping his expectations would be met, Sora wandered to the door after getting ready, checking that he had everything. And just as he was reaching for the handle, the door swung open. He barely reacted in time by catching it with his hands, narrowly avoiding receiving a door to the face. He peeked around to grin at Riku who was, of course, the one entering.

"Oh, jeez, Sora you scared me," Riku murmured, smiling and grabbing his boyfriend.

Sora sighed and sunk into the embrace, pleased that he was getting to see his boyfriend before his shift. It would give him a nice boost.

"Shit, I almost hit you with the door didn't I?" Riku laughed, kissing the top of Sora's head. "Sorry about that." Sora smiled in satisfaction and closed his eyes as Riku slid his hands up to his face and began repeatedly planting kisses on his lips.

"Mmmm," he uttered, squeezing closer and receiving the kisses happily. "Love you."

"Love you too," was the muffled reply.

They stood embracing for a few more moments, neither moving to shut the door or break apart until Sora had to leave.

"I'm going to work," he murmured, leaning up to kiss Riku on the side of his neck and slipping through the still open door with a wave.

He walked at a leisurely pace, knowing that showing up a few minutes late wouldn't be a problem. He was on good terms with the manager, and his shift lead was really laid back, anyways. Plus, the rush wouldn't be starting for another hour. Thus, he was able to stroll along slowly and enjoy the afterglow of Riku's affection. Even after almost a year of dating, he wasn't completely used to how close he felt to Riku. He knew it had a lot to do with the fact that he'd never been in love with anyone before, and that he'd never been so loved in return. But there was something more, even: something special between them. He couldn't exactly figure out what it was but it made his heart pound until he felt it might split his chest in half. 'Maybe this is what they call "true love"…' he thought, closing his eyes and breathing in heavily. 'It's kind of ridiculous, isn't it… I already miss him and it's barely been five minutes.'

With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Sora pushed open the back door of Saturn Cafe and immediately grabbed his apron and a plastic tub for busing tables. People were just beginning to enter, and he knew that soon there would be a wait. Suddenly, all his thoughts were gone as he began to work. The simplicity of mindless labor was much appreciated by Sora who wasn't one to brood, anyways, but could certainly recognize the value of easy distraction. Plus, much as he'd hoped, his shift went by in a flash with not a glimmer of Riku present in his consciousness (not that he wasn't always in the back of his mind).

With a contented stretch of his limbs, Sora hung his work apron and finished up a few minor things before heading for the door, noting that Aerith was still around, which was unusual. She often left after the shift he used to work on Fridays. However, he soon found out why she was still there as she waved him over, a kind smile on her face.

"Hello, Sora. Are you finished with your shift?" she said quietly, moving towards the back door with him.

He nodded and grinned at her, happy that he was going to get back to Riku soon.

"Did you wanna talk to me?" he said casually, pausing once they were outside to look at his manager.

She seemed fidgety, and sort of concerned; maybe like she was mulling something over. Then she looked up at him with a normal expression, and smiled.

"I wanted to talk about a few things," she said, quirking her head.

Sora waited for her to continue, but she just continued to stare at him until he nodded carefully. He was starting to get suspicious and confused, and that in turn made him anxious. What could have her so twitchy?

"Well," she started quietly, twisting the fabric of her shirt in her hands, "I talked to Riku earlier today and he told me about a lot of things… a lot of concerns he has. About you."

Sora breathed in as he processed that, rolling his eyes as he realized what must be going on. 'Great,' he thought, his good mood suddenly gone, 'now he has our manager worked up over this nonsense.'

He sighed and shook his head, preparing to explain his point of view to Aerith as he rubbed the space between his eyes. However, she wasn't finished talking.

"Anyways," she continued, "all of that is one thing, and I'm sure you've already talked about that enough with him, but he also told me some things that I feel you should know. He's concerned about you for a good reason, Sora."

That piqued Sora's interest, though he wasn't sure why. Maybe because he knew he could trust Aerith's judgement pretty well. In any case, what he heard next was, decidedly, a pretty good reason, though it made his blood run cold.

"Riku… he's been protecting you more than you know." She paused, assessing his reaction, then looked down as she continued. "He told me that you knew about some of your attackers… but not all of them. Sora… the friends you had? All the ones that suddenly disappeared from your life? They had… intentions towards you, and Riku caught them in some way or other and stopped them…" She stopped for a long time, then, covering her face with her hands.

And Sora thought it was the most apt action possible when considering the news he'd just received. The realization of its implications ran through him like electricity, almost causing his body to jolt as he breathed in heavily, and then out shakily.

"I'm sorry, Sora, I shouldn't have said anything," Aerith murmured, nearly in tears from guilt, "but he didn't want to tell you and I knew that someone had to for any conclusion to be met… it isn't even my business! What was I thinking!? Oh no!" She covered her face again, suddenly looking very childlike and vulnerable. Sora wanted to comfort her and tell her she'd done the right thing, but he was too shellshocked to move, let alone give someone else what little measure of calm he was sustaining.

"I have to go," he said carefully, fast-walking around the building before breaking into a sprint, making it home in five minutes flat. He burst through the door almost comically, finding Riku in his usual place on the couch, doing homework with his glasses on. And, for a brief moment, as the warmth of his apartment flooded over his night-chilled skin, and he took in the welcoming smile and shirtlessness of his very attractive boyfriend, he forgot completely why he was upset, and started to smirk. However, that was interrupted by the return of reality: Riku had lied to him. Riku had kept things from him. And he felt like a fool.

His face melted into a frown as he shut the door.

* * *

**End Notes:** Grr. I didn't mean to make a cliffhanger at all, because I don't like them, but I read what I wrote out in my planned chapter progression and I accidentally went too far in this already. But, anyways, I'm terrible at endings. Ugh.


	3. Father Figure

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** "Father Figure" by Dead Confederate

**Jessica would like you to note: **Angst chapters are already here. And to those of you who read this I'm super sorry! I'm so busy right now with school because finals are coming up and I have all of these projects, and it looks like I'll have two jobs over the summer, too, which won't have homework, at least, but will take up my days. Fic writing will have to be a night-time activity exclusively, though I can work with that. Anyways, I'm trying to get these chapters out I swear, I just write in such an inefficient way that I end up writing three at once and finishing none of them.

* * *

**Father Figure**

Only hours before, Sora had been over the moon. He'd had a fantastic water polo practice, a sweet interaction with Riku, and an easy shift at work. All of that had dissipated, however, when he'd learned of what he was now having a discussion with Riku about.

"Aerith told me something interesting just now, Riku," Sora breathed, his face more troubled than Riku had seen it in quite some time.

Riku gulped and ran a hand back through his hair, hoping that it wasn't what he thought… she wouldn't do that, right?

"Uhh…"

"She told me," Sora interrupted loudly, "that you drove off… ALL of those guys! Or, was it all of them? All the way from sixth grade, Riku?"

"Umm…"

"You know," he interrupted again, rubbing the space between his eyes, "I'm not even mad that you did that if it's true that they were going to come after me or something, but the fact that I'm hearing this from Aerith - someone we hardly know - and not from you is what's upsetting me, Riku."

Riku sighed and stood up, pacing forward a bit. He wasn't entirely sure what to say in such an unexpected situation, and he knew he'd have to hide his annoyance with Aerith for the time being since it would certainly earn him no brownie points from Sora.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd be upset," he said finally, clenching his left fist. "I knew you'd feel betrayed and hurt and blame yourself and I couldn't handle it." He turned his head to look Sora in the eye, then, biting his lip when he saw that there were tears running down the brunette's face. He rushed towards him and hugged him against his will, breathing into his hair. "I was a coward, and I'm sorry…"

"God dammit, Riku!" Sora choked, his voice muffled against his lover's chest. He felt so angry and dejected and lonely, it would have overwhelmed him if he was of a slightly less sunny temperament. As it was, the only thing keeping him grounded was Riku, and the words he kept looping in his head: 'It's all in the past, it's all in the past, it's all in the past.' Like a mantra…

But it still hurt… a lot. He'd never been over-confident in the first place in regards to his friends, but his self-esteem had been shattered too many times by the discovery that those closest to him - people he'd trusted - were only after one thing when it came to him. He went after everything with pure intentions, hoping to simply have people to talk to, interact with, support and be supported by. He wanted friends, and he wanted it to be simple, but it never fucking was. He realized at some point that Kairi had said something along those lines to him before. She'd said being a girl meant always feeling like a victim to be preyed upon. How, no matter how hard she tried, guys never wanted to be 'just friends' and once they found out that she didn't want what they did, they removed themselves from her life. She'd invested time and interest in them, she'd opened up to them and given them her trust and they'd thrown it all away because of sexual rejection. And suddenly, more than ever, Sora knew exactly what she meant. He'd never fully conceptualized it before, but now he was feeling the brunt of its impact on his life, and it stung immensely.

On top of that, his pride was hurt: he'd been so stubborn and so wrong, yet he'd always fought Riku about being careful. He'd never once truly and reasonably considered that Riku might have a point, he'd simply willed it away and acted on his emotions, becoming defensive on instinct because it was too hard to give in to the reality he was proposing. Being wrong sucked.

Still, Sora wasn't one to get depressed, and he wasn't one to let something get to him for long, so after a few minutes of crying, he felt better (though it wasn't permanent).

He also felt all the anger towards Riku that he'd stowed away.

Thus, he pushed off from his boyfriend with a look that said 'I'm not going to forgive you that easily' and stalked towards the couch, gesturing for the silver-haired boy to follow. Riku frowned and moved to sit, knowing that they needed to talk it out or it would hang between them for days.

Sora sat on the opposite end, crossing his arms and facing the guiltier party.

"So, what I'm going to do right now," he said coldly, glaring at Riku, "is say all the reasons why I'm pissed at you. Then, you can say all the reasons I'm wrong, and maybe we'll figure something out that way." He clapped his hands together. "So, reason number one: you kept this from me for SEVEN FUCKING YEARS. Reason number two: you acted without considering that I might actually want to solve my problems myself. Reason number three-"

"Ah, Sora I-"

Sora held up a finger, giving Riku a stern look.

"If you interrupt, we're not having this conversation at all, and I'll sleep at Roxas' place for the week."

Riku promptly closed his mouth and gestured for Sora to continue, knowing the consequences could be dire if he didn't. Though he knew he could fight Roxas blindfolded, Axel would be another story if they both came at him simultaneously, and he didn't want to get into that sort of mess.

"Alright, so, reason number three: you tried to skim over this without talking about it like that would ever solve anything, which means you're basically treating me like an idiot. If you're not going to be honest with me, how the hell can I trust you? And, attempting to gloss over _anything_ seems like it would make for an unhealthy relationship, Riku." He gave the perpetrator a meaningful look before he continued. "Now, explain yourself."

Riku sighed, folding his hands between his knees and looking down at them, his shoulders hunched forward. He knew he wasn't going to be able to explain it because, in reality, he was completely in the wrong. Sora was right: he'd kept things from him, he'd behaved in an extremely untrustworthy manner… he'd fucked up.

Riku gulped, hoping his sincerity would come across.

"Sora… I'm going to say this and, you of all people know how much it pains me: I… was wrong."

Sora raised an eyebrow at that, his lips curving up a little despite himself. Riku admitting he was wrong was a very rare occurrence indeed.

"But, besides that," Riku continued, moving to take Sora's hands in his, "I made a really big mistake in thinking you couldn't handle it, or thinking I was protecting you by not telling you. I get so wrapped up in my own overprotective feelings that I end up acting like… like I know better when I don't. I'm really sorry, babe-"

"Do NOT call me a pet name when you're apologizing," Sora said, but he was grinning from ear-to-ear. He felt satisfied not only by Riku's answer, but by the knowledge that they could work out their problems so quickly. He'd thought it was going to be a lot harder to deal with. "I forgive you," he murmured, sliding his arms around Riku's neck and letting his boyfriend kiss him for awhile. Then he sighed and knew that he had to get on with his turn; he had his fair share of apologizing to do. "So… I'm sorry, too, Riku," he murmured, looking up. "I always got so defensive about this issue when, really… you were right. And I guess on some level I knew you were right, I did, I just… I was scared of what you being right meant and I was angry and frustrated by the reality of it so I denied it and I'm sorry." He paused to squeeze closer to Riku, hoping that his physical affection would carry the message across better. It seemed to work to good effect, eliciting what Sora always equated to a purr from Riku. After a few moments, they ended up laying together on the couch as they always did, foreheads pressed together as they calmed down.

"I'm going to work on this," Riku said quietly.

Sora opened one eye, glancing at him in confusion. 'Work on…?'

"I mean this over-possessiveness of mine. I know that we've talked about it before, but I've never given enough thought to the fact that I really… I really am. I'm super possessive of you and it's not fair. It makes me act stupid."

Sora laughed and nodded, giving Riku a few quick kisses before settling against his chest. "Look, I kind of like it, okay?" he murmured. "I mean, not saying that I don't want you to work on it, but it does make me feel loved."

"Don't I make you feel loved enough in other ways?" Riku joked, grabbing Sora's ass.

Sora let out a squeak and swatted the hand away, knocking his head against Riku's collarbone in retaliation. "Jeez, can't we lay like this for longer than twenty minutes without you getting horny?"

Riku laughed softly and murmured, "Not a chance," planting a few slow, wet kisses down the side of Sora's neck. "I have to make sure you feel loved, after all."

"Ugh, Riku," Sora moaned, threading his fingers through silver hair. "Quit it or I'm going to hit you…"

But he didn't mean it. Really, he knew makeup sex was to be expected since they would have had sex even without a fight. Plus, all the emotions that had swept through him - along with the slowly uncoiling knot of anxiety in his stomach - made him feel fairly turned on himself.

He gripped onto Riku's shoulders with trembling hands as his boyfriend slipped his hand down the front of his pants, jerking when the touch became more deliberate.

"Fuck," he breathed, making a quick decision: he was going to let himself be putty in Riku's hands, for once. With that in mind, he watched with hooded eyes as Riku flipped their positions and dragged his shirt over his head, the new skin-to-skin contact making his breath hitch just a little more. He drove forward into the kiss they shared next, lips hungry for contact and tongue meeting tongue in an almost violent clash soothed only by Riku's adept movements.

Sora moaned hungrily into Riku's mouth, panting against his lips for a few moments before that mouth began traveling down his chest, the tongue within flicking across one nipple, teeth rasping a moment later. Sora arched to meet the touch, gasping at the teeth and moaning softly when an apologetic tongue swiped over the same area. The pleasure there was a strange twinge in his stomach, as always, but was supplemented by the steady warmth of Riku stroking him through his jeans. His other hand was dragging up and down the back of Sora's thigh, growing slowly rougher as Sora's moans increased and his pants got tighter.

Straining for some relief, Sora pushed into Riku's hand unwontedly, still aware enough of himself to feel some slight embarrassment at that, but just far gone enough that it didn't matter all that much. Riku chuckled and slowly unbuttoned his pants, moving down to drag the zipper down with his teeth. It should have been awkward, but when Riku did it it was just… sinfully hot. Sora panted.

He panted even more when Riku fully removed his pants but revealed only the head of his erection teasingly, laving his tongue over the separation as slowly as possible. His hands were sliding up, now, under his boxer-briefs but with palms flat against his thighs. His knuckles did the work of dragging them down as he continued this motion, his mouth moving down to take in Sora's length as it was revealed. Sora practically vibrated at the languorous motion, seizing his muscles to maintain some control. He was clutching the cushion behind him so hard he felt he might tear it. He could feel Riku's tongue swirling and flickering so keenly…

A loud moan pushed its way out of him as Riku sucked, hard, pulling back for a moment to admire the results of his handiwork. Sora's legs were spreading wider, seemingly of their own accord. The motion became halted only by the back of the couch, which hindered his right leg in its path outward. Riku solved this quickly by gripping the back of his knee and pushing up some, causing Sora to moan simply because the new position made him feel more vulnerable. He never felt more naked than when Riku was looking at him, and that turned him on more than he'd believed possible.

Riku, eager to see the brunette writhe, began biting Sora's inner thigh, pausing to suck and flicker his tongue over a spot occasionally. He used the hand that wasn't holding Sora's leg up to stroke his erection, noting in satisfaction that this, too, was causing a substantially pleasing reaction. However, Sora, though he was putty in Riku's hands, was still fairly aggressive, for putty. He quickly became displeased with the unilateral pleasure and growled, pushing forward in such a way that Riku was forced to sit down. He made sure that Riku was facing forward before continuing, moving to straddle his boyfriend and kiss him distractingly, using his left hand to tease Riku's lower half.

The boy seemed surprised by this, which elicited a chuckle from Sora, in part because he rarely found anything they did during sex surprising after a year. And in part because he could very clearly feel how hard Riku was through his sweat pants.

"You're not wearing any underwear," he commented wryly, hooking his fingers under the waistband of the pants. "Take these off…" he breathed, biting Riku's earlobe as the silver-haired boy complied. He wasted no time, once he was naked, amending their position again.

"Get on all-fours," Riku murmured, gulping when Sora did. The sight of him offering himself up like that always got to him. Instead of dwelling on this, he moved forward, biting one pert buttock before getting on with the fun part. He teased at the entrance once experimentally, enjoying how Sora moaned and arched his back more, his legs beginning to tremble. Then he pressed more, his erection straining at the sound of Sora's moans. He so rarely let Riku do it, but the truth was, his tongue felt so good. He was losing it.

"Riku," he groaned, "do it!"

Sora knew the command had been successful when he suddenly felt Riku's tongue replaced by something else, the head of which slid into him at an almost torturously slow pace. He pushed back against it impatiently, moaning loudly as he felt the perfect spot being hit. It was like Riku's dick was made to be inside him.

After that it was just the slow, sweet build into a full-on, sweaty, hip-grinding sexual escapade during which neither of them could form coherent thoughts. They moved on pure instinct… for hours… and then continued to do so in the shower… and once more in their bed, though only touching at that point since they were both thoroughly exhausted and wrung out.

"Sorry," Riku breathed, his body heavy, nearly on top of Sora's and damp from new sweat.

Sora hummed, contented despite the sweltering temperature and the way their skin was sticking together. He felt too lazy to be perturbed by any of it, and simply breathed in the air between them, pressing loud, sloppy kisses to Riku's shoulder since it was right in front of his face.

"Whatever you're apologizing for, I forgive you," he sighed, letting his eyes roll back and his heavy lids sink down to cover them. A smile spread on his face as he sunk partway into sleep.

"Well I know you must've already been tired…"

"Don't worry 'bout that dick brain," Sora yawned, drifting further, "I would complain if I didn't like it."

The last sound Sora heard as he finally became fully immersed was a dry chuckle from Riku, and it was enough to give him good dreams all night.

* * *

**End Notes:** Wow I wrote a lot of sex… Alright, well, dunno why that happened, exactly. I feel like I was just space-filling but, y'know, in a nice kind of way. Well whatever, I like it. Heh. I'm a pervert. Also, idk, this feels like a lame chapter now, looking back, which is shitty so I'm sorry. I'm getting worse and worse at this I swear.


	4. Out Getting Ribs

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** "Out Getting Ribs" by King Krule

**Jessica would like you to note: **Alright, things are moving forward I swear. I have a plan!

* * *

**Out Getting Ribs**

The morning after his fight with Riku, Sora called Roxas to gain some reassurance.

He'd woken to find his partner gone, which did nothing for his mood though it was expected. Furthermore, he was suddenly wracked, in that moment, by the utter lack of closure; they'd really left so much hanging. Though he'd originally been comforted by the speed with which they'd resolved their issues, he realized it was a hollow comfort with no basis. He turned these thoughts into words as he babbled to his blonde friend, talking as fast as his brain would allow him and pacing through the living room.

"Roxas… what do you think, man? Honestly. I'm going crazy right now and I'm not even sure if it's justified."

There was a sigh from the other end, then the sound of Roxas shifting the phone, as Sora knew he was wont to do.

"I think you need to talk more with Riku," Roxas said a moment later.

"But I already did that and right now he's at work… and I need an outsider's perspective, seriously, come on Rox," Sora whined, running a hand through his hair.

"Ugh, okay, here's what I can tell you: you're being fucking paranoid and finicky again. Remember last year when you came crying to me after that weird Sephiroth bullshit and you couldn't see what was right in front of your face?"

Sora said nothing, but nodded. He was on the phone… but he nodded. Luckily, the two boys had that weird connection to each other so Roxas picked up on it right away and continued.

"Okay, well, it's kind of like that, dumbass. In this situation - though I'm always biased towards you, of course - I think you need to acknowledge more deeply that Riku is actually justified in protecting you. But you also need to keep in mind that he should be telling you this kind of thing instead of treating you like some kind of princess. That's what I think you should tell him: "Treat me as an equal and at least give me some feedback." Although…" Roxas paused, and Sora could practically hear the weird face his friend was making.

"What?" Sora said calmly, knowing something he didn't want to hear was coming.

"Uh, well, Sora, here's the thing, and don't get mad okay?"

Sora nodded as he had before, waiting.

Roxas took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, every time Riku has tried to warn you about things you've kind of been a dismissive asshole about it-"

"What the fuck! No I haven't!"

"See, you're getting mad. I told you not to get mad. Hear me out, Sora."

He huffed in indignation but nodded a third time, still waiting.

"Alright," Roxas continued. "Now, I know you don't mean to be unreasonable - you're generally not like that with other people like… like me, for instance. You always listen to me. But it's like you treat Riku like he's your parent trying to hold you back. That might be something you need to work on, Sora. It's like when you and Riku were trying to work through your trust issues but I think this is something you're going to have to really think about. I dunno, maybe I'm wrong…"

Sora scratched the back of his head, staring at the berber carpet under his toes in contemplative silence. 'God, I never even thought of that… I do get this weird surge of defiance when he tells me to stay away from people. And, really, he's just trying to protect me… he's always had better instincts when it comes to people… well, for the most part. But… where is this coming from?'

"Roxas," he breathed, feeling uneasy, "I've really been doing that? What you just said… I've been acting like a petulant child?"

He heard the blond make a short throat-clearing noise over the phone, just imagining the apologetic look on Roxas' face in that moment. Before any answer could be given, he groaned loudly, yanking on some of his hair in frustration.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner!?" he yelled, throat working as his emotions surged up. "Treating him like that… No wonder he didn't want to tell me the truth about all those guys..."

"Sora, you're overreacting, listen to me. Before you start spiraling and getting all depressed, just shut up, and listen."

He did as he was told, closing his mouth and trying to breathe.

"Look, I think I know where this is coming from, okay, and it's not just your fault. Riku is exacerbating the problem by never telling you anything. You guys are both just creating this heightened situation that is really unnecessary and doesn't speak to the true character of either of you guys. What you need to do is talk about it. Tell Riku that he needs to be open and honest with you, and let him tell you his problems - whatever they may be - and then fucking hug it out. It's not going to be fixed overnight, and I know you're not so unreasonable as to expect that, but nothing will happen until you make a start. I guess whatever happened between you last night was a start, sort of, but I think there's still too much up in the air. You gotta clear it up honestly, and with no ego."

Sora nodded frantically, pacing again to expend some of the energy he'd let build up during his epiphany.

"Okay, but what if he gets really angry about me being such a defiant asshole when I tell him that I really have been feeling that… defiance, and whatnot? This is the worst discovery you've ever made, Roxas. I don't know what to do with this information."

Roxas sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure you know by now, idiot, that Riku is so head-over-heels, disgustingly in love with you that he will forgive anything. He's been harboring that crush of his for at least five years, and I doubt it would go away with just some bratty defiance thing from you, okay? He knows you better than anyone aside from me."

Sora smiled at the thought, knowing his friend was right, though he was still wracked with anxiety. He knew that the only thing that would help, at that point, was talking to Riku himself. However, since the boy was unavailable, he needed some other form of distraction.

"Well…" he puffed out a sigh, trying to think as he pushed his hair back from his forehead, "are you busy today? I know you said you have like an internship, right?"

"Ah, yeah I'll be there pretty much all day, sorry," Roxas replied.

Sora sighed and told Roxas he would let him go since that was the case, hanging up after a few more sentences had been exchanged and looking around his empty apartment. There seemed to be a distinct staleness to the air, though he knew it was pretty much all in his head; it just felt off because he was in the middle of so much tumult. Indecisive about what he should do, he looked through his phone for someone to call. He didn't know many people in Santa Cruz that he would be willing to talk to with his mood so low, and he didn't want to call any of his friends from high school because he knew it would just make him sad and nostalgic. That left him only one option, one which he was surprised he hadn't thought of before: Axel.

Without any further thought, he called the red head up, hoping Roxas wasn't still in their apartment since it would create a really weird situation. Fortunately, just as Axel picked up Sora could hear the door slamming, which could only mean that his blond best friend was out of the picture.

"Well this is a surprise," Axel said, giving his version of a greeting. "You never call me, Sor. What's the occasion?"

"Normally there's no need to call you since you come barging in here on your own anyways," Sora laughed, pausing for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say exactly now that he had his sort-of friend on the phone, so in order to keep the awkwardness to a minimum, he said the first thing that popped into his mind. "You want to get day drunk and wander around?"

He heard Axel laugh, and could just imagine the surprised face he must be making. He smiled, feeling strangely better already.

"You're a weird guy, Sora," Axel murmured, "and yeah, that sounds like my kind of day. We could both probably use the distraction since the husbands are at work. I'm comin' up to your place now."

"Oh, cool," Sora said hurriedly, speed-walking to his room to throw something resembling reasonable clothing on. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

He hung up after a quick affirmation from Axel, satisfied with the distraction provided by the mere thought of spending the day trying to connect with Axel. It was territory left previously unexplored, though there had been moments peppered in during which he and Axel had been the only two laughing at something, or had the same thought at the same time, but that was the extent of it. They hadn't had time to get close because Sora was already spread pretty thin between Riku and Roxas during their only interactions. He thought, briefly, that he should have started hanging out with Axel sooner since he was probably going to be around for awhile, what with his attachment to Roxas. Sora grinned to himself just as his door swung open loudly, startling him somewhat, but not knocking that smile away even as Axel thrust out the two six-packs he was holding.

"Let's do this!" Axel said loudly, his own grin matching Sora's.

About 45 minutes, six beers and 3 shots later, the two came stumbling out of he and Riku's shared apartment, barely having the wherewithal to lock it before heading downtown. They'd spent the duration of their time together talking with an eery degree of ease, neither feeling the slightest bit of discomfort; they connected just like that. Sora was beginning to see why Roxas was so enamored with the red-head, though he'd never want to admit something that weird. Instead of vocalizing his thoughts, Sora shoved his hands deep into his pockets and took in the hint of ocean air wafting by. It made him feel refreshed, though he was still incredibly muddled and drunk. His appreciation for it increased as he and Axel began running for no reason. It felt amazing blowing through his hair. He felt so much better than he had that morning.

"Dude, I'm starrrrving," he slurred, nearly tripping as they rounded a corner. "Let's go to Betty's!"

Axel grinned and nodded in response, slowing down just as Sora did, too out-of-breath to run the rest of the way to their destination. Instead, they spent the entire walk skipping around and basically acting like average drunk people: cackling for no reason, running into each other and then cackling some more, play-fighting, and when they felt no one was around, half-yelling about whatever topic came to mind.

And they continued to behave more-or-less the same way as they sat and stuffed their faces at Betty's Burgers, talking loudly with their mouths full, unnoticed by the other customers who were used to seeing strange things in their town. It was so crowded and loud that they weren't much of a bother anyways.

At the same time the brunet and red-head were gorging themselves and having a ball, Roxas was fretting.

He was supposed to be focused on the document he was learning to fill out before leaving that day, and normally he'd have already taken in everything since he was a hard worker, but he couldn't get Sora's problems off his mind. He didn't make a habit of prioritizing his best friend's turbulent love life - in fact, he usually ignored it altogether unless it was brought up to him specifically - but he felt a strange restlessness when it came to the current issue. Maybe it was the lack of sleep (Axel had been needy the night before), or maybe it was because he genuinely worried about the root of Sora's problem (his lack of wariness and general defenselessness when it came to lechers). Either way, Roxas was bothered, and he knew he couldn't get anything done until he made some effort to help. With this in mind, he shut down the computer he was working at, gathering everything he'd brought in a rush and storming to his boss's office.

"I need to leave early today!" he said loudly, pushing open the door as he did.

His boss looked up with no emotion, shrugging and nodding. "Okay, we don't need you today anyways. I'm assuming you have something you need to do so I won't even dock your pay. See you tomorrow Roxas."

Roxas smiled gratefully, glad that he'd found such an awesome company before he'd even fully become an adult, and exited, hurrying out of the building and heading straight for Saturn Cafe. Riku's shift would just be ending, if he remembered correctly, so he figured he'd catch the guy before he got home to a sulky Sora. Then he'd accompany Sailor Moon to his boyfriend and help them make up and everything would be good. At least he hoped. Mostly, he just wanted Sora to stop letting everyone take advantage of him. It gave him unnecessary stress. Plus, he normally felt safe leaving Sora in Riku's hands, but with things as they were, he wasn't so sure anymore. He needed peace of mind. He needed to stop stressing so much about Sora all the time. He shook his head and chuckled at himself derisively, feeling foolish. 'It's been like this since we were kids,' he thought. 'I'll never really be able to leave him alone.'

Roxas had admitted a lot to himself in just that one silent sentence, and it tripped him up for a minute. He'd come to terms with what was really going on a long time ago, but he'd never given it the amount of thought it deserved - he'd just moved on without question. And, of course, Axel knew about it a little bit too, though it was a sore subject… Roxas had been just as in love with Sora as Riku was at some point or another, and it wasn't something he could dispel just like that. His feelings dated back to childhood moments of what he'd believed to be a sort of kinship, a brotherly love that amounted to no more than a strong, compatibility. That's what he'd thought for years. It wasn't until everything began happening all at once (the Sephiroth incident, Sora's wet dreams about Riku, Riku and Sora dating) that he'd realized the truth. But he'd already met Axel by then, and he'd also come to learn that love is a really strange thing. His love for Sora had built up and built up and then slowly crumbled, silently, with no fanfare or even recognition. All that was left of it was a hollow pang in his stomach that came as Sora murmured the words "I'm going to talk to Riku", a small smile on his face as he left Roxas' house after spilling his guts about everything that had happened. It was then that it had all hit Roxas. He had a minor break-down that night after Sora was gone. He'd let everything go unrealized and completely lost any chance he'd had, and it hurt. Of course, once he'd regained his senses there was little pain left… it was just that everything that had built up and been stifled, and every emotion he might have had if he'd ever once stopped to think about why he kept worrying about Sora day-in and day-out needed to spill out. 'And I pride myself as an introspective person', he'd thought, berating himself for days after. At that time, he'd stopped worrying so much about Sora because of his love-at-first-sight with Axel, and then, finally, the reciprocation of that love, but he still occasionally wondered what might have happened if things had gone a different way.

With all of this weighing on him, Roxas felt like he owed both Sora and Riku a lot, though it was simply an illogical, guilt-fueled itch. He definitely wanted to help either way, but what drove him most of all was the pressure of the past, and what might happen to his friendship with Sora if he couldn't rest easy knowing his safety was ensured. That much of his love still remained, and he was sure that it was something he had to do.

Finally reaching his destination, Roxas cleared all such thoughts of the past out of his mind and prepared to face Riku, pushing open the front door and finding a seat in the section he knew to be Sailor Moon's.

"How's it going Roxas?" he heard from behind, turning to face a bedraggled-looking Riku. It was strange, he'd never seen the guy look anything less than enviably perfect, and now he was just… wasted. No, not drunk, but torn down to some degree. "Laid-waste to", seemed to be incredibly fitting… or just wasted, for the sake of brevity. Roxas grimaced when he realized that it didn't really matter: Riku was still sexy, even when he was so broken. 'He must be feeling fitful about what happened too… maybe this won't be so hard.' He smiled and cleared his throat, ordering something quickly before getting to the main point.

"So, listen, your shift's about to end, right?"

Riku nodded, scratching back his hair sloppily.

"Okay, well, would you mind hanging back with me for a bit? I mean, when your replacement comes that is. I need to talk to you about Sora."

Though he looked wary, Riku nodded again, murmuring something quietly about getting Roxas' food before shuffling off to do just that. He returned moments later with the plate in hand, his apron gone and another waiter following him.

"Can I get you guys something else?" the new waiter asked, smiling gently at Riku in what seemed to be pity. Both of them simply shook their heads, and the guy left, an awkward silence ensuing as soon as his presence faded.

"Uh, look," Roxas started, cutting through the tension, "Sora called me this morning about what happened last night-"

Riku rolled his eyes and made a noise, muttering something too quietly for Roxas to hear.

He closed his eyes and ignored it, continuing his previous point patiently. "-and I talked to him somewhat about what he should do. I want you to know before I even start that I'm pretty much on your side, here, though there aren't really sides in this kind of issue."

Riku looked up, seeming somewhat more interested knowing that he wasn't going to be chewed out for anything.

Roxas smiled in response, hoping it would help open him up.

"Riku, you need to understand something about Sora. He's not going to stop being a defiant little prick until you become… less overprotective-"

Riku glared, looking irritated again. "I'm not overprotective, I'm worried about him!"

"Riku, you're not respecting him at all!" Roxas yelled, his temper flaring up unexpectedly. Riku looked shocked but he just carried on, channeling his anger into what he really wanted to say. "You protect him, which is perfectly fine, but then you don't even tell him about it! You never treat him as an equal, but instead as an item to be guarded and kept secret from others! You give him no credit and you do nothing for him by acting like that! It's just making him feel like you don't trust him and it makes him defiant and then his defiance leads him to not listen when you're making a good point! Don't you see this fucking vicious cycle you've been in for so long!? It's not getting any better and it's your fault too!"

Riku drew up, his back completely straight for the first time all day and his eyes wide. He looked like he'd just been slapped with a board, though there was no color in his face to tell of such an occurrence, and his pallor simply highlighted how shellshocked he was. It took a moment for him to register everything, and then another moment to react, his mind looping.

It seemed to overwhelm him so much that insanity took over, Roxas thought, because the next thing he knew, Riku was covering his face with both hands and chuckling to himself, shaking his head behind the mask his palms created.

"Nobody ever notices the things that are right in front of them," he muttered, the words barely audible to Roxas. "I guess that's what friends are for."

Riku lowered his hands and he was smiling, though his eyes looked a bit sad. In a previously unfathomable gesture, he touched Roxas' hand across the table, causing the recipient of the touch to jolt and stare, completely caught off-guard.

"Uhh, Riku, I know I look a whole lot like Sora, but-"

Riku laughed to cut him off, shaking his head.

"No. I just want to say thank you, Roxas. I realized as you were talking that I had no excuses for anything you said, no justification at all, and that made me understand how everything's gotten so convoluted and fucked up between Sora and I. Really, we're all still kids. Sometimes we're too damn young to figure this shit out ourselves, and I really appreciate you being the one to get it through my thick skull. I don't think it would have been so effective if Sora had been the one to explain this to me… in fact, I think that's sort of what Sora's been saying to me for awhile, but he was never so straightforward about it. Seriously, thank you."

Roxas smiled in shock, despite himself, his mouth slightly open. "God… that was really genuine Riku. Thanks for… for that. I mean, I'm glad I could help you guys at all… Now I'm rambling. I'm not sure how to respond…"

Riku waved it off with his hand, finally retracting the tentative touch he'd given and slouching down on his side of the table.

"I feel like you've said everything I needed to hear anyways," he laughed, looking slightly embarrassed.

Roxas smirked somewhat and shrugged, shoving a fry into his mouth. "Well you need to talk to Sora, now. Like, really. He started getting all hysterical on the phone this morning."

Riku nodded with a contemplative look on his face, glancing up from under his bangs after a moment.

"What'd you tell Sora to say?" he asked quietly, his twiddling thumbs the only indication that he was nervous.

Roxas smiled reassuringly, and patted his shoulder. "I just told him that he needs to tell you to be open with him and respect him, and that he needs to apologize for being a defiant little shit-head, and… basically that you guys need to let that ruminate for awhile and figure your shit out. This is one of your stupider fights, really."

"Yeah, you're telling me," Riku laughed. "I could have stopped all of this from happening ages ago if I was able to let my pride go more."

"Look, cut yourself some slack. Like you said, we're all still kids."

"Yeah," Riku nodded, "but it always feels like I'm more of a kid than everyone else… other than Sora."

Roxas scoffed. "We ALL feel like that, trust me. Everyone's their own worst enemy and biggest critic. It's why we need people, sometimes. It's why I'll probably end up needing you to smack me over the head metaphorically in the future, and why Axel will need Sora, and why Sora will need all of us."

They both laughed, but thought separately that that wasn't the truth, entirely. Of all of them, Sora had himself the most figured out, and that fact was almost beyond comprehension. It never seemed like the kid gave himself much thought, but, somehow, he never betrayed who they all knew him to be. He was always righteous and strong, and tried his best to push through his confusion and work everything out. He just wanted everyone to be happy, and that's what made him so damn charming. It was also the reason they all had so much to learn from him, though they'd never admit it out loud…

The two boys sat contemplating the same thing for a moment longer, feeling a simultaneous twinge of nostalgia. With how touched they'd both become by their own thoughts, a comfortable silence grew. They both stared out the window next to them, completely satisfied just wondering what their mutual interest was up to.

If only they knew.

* * *

**End Notes:** Summer is almost over, and I meant to write the shit out of this fanfic with my supposed free time… but no. I work nine hours every day with about 30 children, and I'm fucking exhausted all the time. But at least my horrible horrible horrible horrible school year is well-behind me! Yay! But uhhh, I mean, I don't want to use my PTSD from certain events and working as an excuse for not having updated in so long, however, that has been the reason, really. Nightmares and breakdowns and bouts of screaming yadda yadda yadda. All that sort of kept me preoccupied on just chilling out and focusing on work so, yeah. I'm sorry about that. I'm definitely going to make use of the memories to improve this here story. haha. I'M GOING TO MAKE THIS MORE OF A PRIORITY BECAUSE I'M TRYING SO HARD TO BECOME A DECENT WRITER AND I NEED THE PRACTICE BUT I ALSO NEED THIS STORY TO MOVE FORWARD DAMMIT.

Anyways, all of the stuff about Roxas loving Sora was decided during the first story but I never gave Roxas enough air-time to really bring out this aspect of their friendship so I've just gotten to it now. It was not a random addition, though I suppose it looks like one. I bet people are going to dislike it, sigh. Okay, anyways, see you next chapter.


	5. High and Dry

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** "High and Dry" by Radiohead

**Jessica would like you to note: **Writing two chapters in one day? Yeah I'm gonna do that. I might even write more! We'll see!

* * *

**High and Dry**

It was 8 o'clock. Sora knew Riku was at home, but he'd been marathoning too long to logically think of a reason to go back and talk to him. 'It'll be fiiiine,' he thought drunkenly, gulping down his fifth can of boxed wine conspicuously. 'I don't need to rush. Riku will be there for me in a few hours, too. No need to kill my vibe when I'm having this much fun.'

And having fun he was. After Betty's, he and Axel had ridden shopping carts around the parking lot at Safeway, though they'd quickly been run off. Following that little stunt, they'd gone to find something fun to do but couldn't seem to figure anything out. It was then that Axel decided they should marathon and they'd gone back to their apartments briefly to scrounge up alcohol that could be carried around secretly. Sora had taken the bag out of some boxed wine he inexplicably had, shoving it into a backpack and grabbing empty Coke cans before heading out again. Axel had grabbed a few more beers but couldn't find much else, so they drank them and then tried to find more things to do. They'd eventually ended up just wandering to the boardwalk and riding a ridiculous number of rides over and over, getting more and more hammered all the while, though slowly so it would last longer. Sora was on the verge of blacking out by the time night fell, so Axel cut him off and dragged him away to hang out by the water until he got a call.

"Dude," Axel slurred, leaning towards Sora where he was perched in the sand, "one of my bandmates just called and said there's a party and like normally I haaaaate going to their fucking parties because everyone's just a hammered asshole but right now **we're** the fucking hammered assholes so you wanna go to this party or what?"

Sora stared at Axel in the darkness and began laughing harder than he had in awhile, falling over in the sand as he clutched at his stomach.

"Do you know how hilarious you sounded just now, man?" he wheezed out, forcing himself to stand up as he continued laughing. "Let's go to this party then. Where's it at?"

Axel paused, then glanced at his phone. "He texted me the address. It's at one of those frat houses up some streets from Foster's Freeze n' shit. Let's leave now before it gets super crowded there."

Sora nodded and they both began their slow journey. Neither of them really understood that they were about to walk 15 miles, but it didn't seem to matter at all as they toddled along and sang and laughed and talked. It still didn't bother them when they finally arrived, and immediately got into a game of flip cup with a big group of people in the kitchen. Sora's hand-eye coordination obviously wasn't tip-top considering how drunk he was, but he was an athlete, after all, so he and Axel won easily. They left the table feeling more hammered than before and joined a lively discussion on the couches, no longer worrying about anything at all. Neither knew what time it was, and neither cared. All they cared about was finishing their warm boxed wine and enjoying the night.

Thus, they wore several hours away, finally heading back to Sora's apartment for yet more drinking much later that night than they'd ever intended.

During the same several hours the two wayward boys spent partying and riding roller coasters and drinking like alcoholics, their two left-behind lovers spent those same hours wondering where the fuck they were.

They'd both left Saturn and headed to see Sora together, so they'd been a little bit shocked when they'd gotten back to Riku's apartment and found the place empty at 4 in the afternoon.

Still, they didn't worry too much about it, figuring that he must have gone out for some reason and would be back quickly. Roxas called his apartment to ask Axel if he wanted to come up but there was no answer. He didn't answer his cell, either. That's when it clicked.

"Ahhh, Sora and Axel are hanging out," Roxas said, flopping down on the couch next to Riku. "I guess I understand since they both would have been bored to tears and, in Sora's case, worried all day otherwise."

Riku sighed but shrugged in acceptance, whiling away the hours with Roxas, who turned out to be surprisingly good company.

It wasn't until around 8:30 that the blond and silver-haired boys finally started really worrying.

"I don't understand, they should be back by now," Riku muttered, running a hand back through his hair.

"They're probably out partying, to be honest," Roxas said with a sigh, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "There's no way either of them will answer their phone if that's the case. You know how Sora gets when he's drunk."

Riku nodded, annoyed and wondering what he should do. All he could think was that he really needed a distraction.

"Hey Rox," he said, getting an idea, "Sora won't like it but… well…" he reached into his pocket to fish out what he'd bought from one of his coworkers earlier that day, shaking it meaningfully. "Let's get high and eat everything in the house."

Roxas let out a full-blown laugh, letting his head fall back and everything. "Sure! Fuck if I'm letting those two have more fun than us."

Riku laughed too and they proceeded to smoke nearly the whole bag in one sitting, getting entirely too high and doing exactly what Riku'd suggested; they ate everything. They each had a giant tub of Neopolitan ice cream to themselves and were using spoons normally used to serve salad to eat it as they hunkered down on the couch to watch Fight Club. That was when Riku started getting strangely emotional.

"I seriously need to clear things up with Sora," he murmured around a mouthful of ice cream. "I mean, I'm so high right now that like… I'm not feeling it like I was before and it's fuckin hard to focus on our problems with all the THC running through me, but I miss him right now. I want him to be here to scold me and tell me I'm an asshole for smoking weed…"

Roxas stared at his friend with a mixture of curiosity and empathy, still spooning the strawberry parts of his ice cream into his mouth.

"Well," he said (also around a mouthful of ice cream), "I think you guys will be fine. Like forever. As much as I used to sort of dislike seeing you with him, now I'm… I'm thinking you're the perfect person to be his boyfriend. Like… none of those girls he was with ever could have suited him properly, and none of the guys that were just after his body, either. Not even I could be as good for him as you, and I've known him since birth!"

Riku stared at Roxas, a strange look on his face… as though something was clicking into place. "You… you loved him once, didn't you?" he murmured, touching Roxs' shoulder.

Roxas didn't even think of denying it. He was too far gone to make that choice. He nodded over-emphatically shoveling more ice cream in as he stared ahead with wide eyes. "Yeah I loved him but I didn't even know it."

"Well… I'm okay with it, you know… Maybe you don't care either way, but I understand, like… You have Axel now and I can tell you're not a threat. I would have beaten you up without telling Sora the reason ages ago if I thought you were a problem."

Roxas laughed, choking on the cold, melting fluid in his throat, slightly. "Yeah, I'm nothing like the guys who were after his body anyways," he said loudly, closing his eyes and chewing his ice cream open-mouthed. "I'm not the type to put anything in a guy, you know? I prefer it the other way around-"

"Woah! Don't tell me that!" Riku said loudly, raising his hands ridiculously high. "There's some shit I just do not even wanna know about my friends."

Roxas cackled and pointed his spoon at Riku. "It just freaks you out because I look like a blond Sora and you miss him so much right now."

Riku paused, mouth open, and then shrugged with a smirk. "You're probably a little bit right…"

"Uh, hey, look, Riku, sorry-"

"Nah, it's okay. You didn't mean anything by it. I'm just overemotional right now because everything's fucking up in the air… and SHIT I'm high."

They both chuckled at that and went back to watching the movie for just a moment, things becoming slightly awkward.

"You know," Riku said softly, "I always wonder how you and Axel have basically no problems… what's your secret?"

Roxas chuckled half-heartedly. "Look, it's not like we've never had problems," he murmured, scratching down his hair, "we just keep them very private. We're both pretty introverted, though I'm a lot worse than Axel… I dunno, it just tends not to blow up because we like to keep to ourselves. You and Sora are such competitive people. And he's just plain boisterous… you get that way too, really. I dunno… I think it's just because we spend more time thinking about different things. It's not like it's a bad thing in any regard. You guys just operate in a different way. It's kind of interesting, actually, to think about the introvert couple and the extrovert couple and how we're all sort of in different places on the spectrum but can still meet in the middle so well."

Riku smiled genuinely and nodded, closing his eyes. "It's weird because you and Sora are almost polar opposites in that respect, but you have so much more in common than he and I do."

"Well you and Axel are both sort of approaching midline and you still get along really well, and I think that's almost harder. There's more ambiguity in that position."

"But Axel and I mostly get along on the basis of hobbies and humor. We don't have talks like this, really."

Roxas nodded, touching his chin. "Well, since we're having this psychology discussion let's go further. The kinds of friendships borne based on those things… they can be just as strong as those that come about based on how well you click, right? I mean, I honestly wouldn't call mine and Sora's relationship any more significant than yours and Axel's. Sora and I don't really joke around as much and we don't have like ANY of the same interests but we get along so well and can talk to each other about everything and anything on a really deep level. But you and Axel genuinely enjoy every second of each other's company and you can do things you like together and make more action-based memories… I don't know where I'm going with this, it's just interesting." He laughed, noting that things got weirdly deep when he and Riku got high together. Or just hung out at all, really.

"I think we need both kinds of relationships," Riku mused, interrupting Roxas' thoughts. "I think I need people like Axel to laugh and have a good time and just not think so much, but I might not have that kind of interaction at all with someone I have a quote unquote deeper relationship with.. and then, you know… now that I think of it, maybe it's when you meet someone that can accommodate both aspects - who you can laugh and share hobbies with but still talk about deep issues and cry on their shoulder too - that you truly fall in love. It's like that with Sora. It's always been like that with Sora. He meets my every expectation, he can predict what I'm going to say and make me laugh and do things I like with me. It's incredible… I mean, I'm sure it's like that with you and Axel."

Roxas nodded, feeling stupid for treating Riku's word's like an epiphany. He was sure that if they weren't high, they'd both know what he was saying without having to talk about it, but talking about it honestly felt so good. And he realized that they probably had to be high to do that… "Yeah it's like that," he finally said. "I've never met someone who can do what he does for me. Never. That's what would have been missing between Sora and I if I'd ever realized my feelings before you got to him. It would have been a fucking disaster." He and Riku both laughed, imagining how that disaster would have played out. Neither noticed just how tired they were getting, or the fact that they were starting to slump together. And it didn't even occur to Riku that he should move as he fell asleep, his chin resting on the top of the already sleeping Roxas' head.

It was in this state that the long-lost ginger and brunet found their lovers, though they were too drunk to even notice that their positioning was weird. Instead of even giving them a glance, Axel and Sora continued to cackle and sing 'Jack and Diane' in stupid voices before finding more alcohol in the kitchen and slumping on the floor to consume it in an absurd fit of laughter.

Of course, their general loudness woke Riku and Roxas quickly, but they were immediately ignored. They both watched in horror as their boyfriends wandered back from the kitchen with a bottle - already extremely drunk and looking dirty and beat up - and began chugging it down voraciously.

"Oh my god, Sora," Riku said, diving at his lover as Roxas did the same in Axel's direction. They apprehended the bottle and slipped it under the couch as inconspicuously as possible, hoping their drunks wouldn't notice.

"Rikuuuuuuuuu," Sora said, raising his arms in the air and reminding his silver-haired significant other of another time he'd drunkenly laid on a carpet and called to him. Except that time Riku had been forced to beat the shit out of some other guy. This time he really only wanted to beat the shit out of Sora, but only because he'd been worried about him. He hugged the smaller boy hard, yanking him up into a sitting position and rocking to the side slightly, forgetting for a moment that he was still really high.

He glanced over at Roxas and the blond gave him a meaningful look that he didn't understand… well, until he noticed where Roxas was pointing. It was a hickey. A new hickey. It was on Axel's neck. There was only one conclusion the two of them could come to, and it made Riku want to beat the shit out of Sora AND Axel. Instead, he got the two drunks some water and waited, hoping he and Roxas were completely off-base with their assumptions.

* * *

**End Notes:** Dun dun dunnnn. Cliff-hanger. It's not a very suspenseful one, is it. Sigh. I'm no good at them. It's okay though because I hate them and I don't want to incite anxious feelings in anyone so we all win here!


	6. 2 am

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** 2 a.m. by Slightly Stoopid

**Jessica would like you to note: **Thiiiiis chapter is going to be really really short. Sorry but it makes me write faster overall for many reasons that are related to my ADHD and other things. The end.

* * *

**2 a.m.**

"Sora, it's two in the fucking morning," Riku scolded, shaking his smiling boyfriend a little, "where the fuck did you and Axel go? And what did you do?"

Roxas was staring, a nearly blacked-out Axel over his shoulder and a deadly look on his face. "You better not have… fuck!"

"Whaaaat are you guys so serious about rightnoww?" Sora slurred, knocking his head against Riku's collarbone. "Chill out guys I'll tell ya the tale of Axel and Sora's adventure day."

Roxas sighed and motioned for the brunet to hurry it up, wondering how he was more sober than Axel. 'Well… Axel's skinnier I guess.'

"So, this morning I was feelin rreeeeeeeaaally shitty all by myself in this apartment because I wanted to talk to Riku but he was at work, ssso I called Axel and I was like 'Dude, let's get day drunk' and he was like 'Okay!' and then we did and we ate at Betty's which was friggin awesome and thennnn we wanted to marathon drink for the day so we came back to the apartments to get more booze and we like rode everything at the boardwalk like seven times and drank a ton of boxed wine out of my backpack in cans and then we hung out at the beach for like two seconds until Axel got a call, right? And then he was like… wait… it was so fucking funny what'd 'e say?" Sora paused and put his finger on his chin, staring up at the ceiling in thought. Then he snapped and brightened up, grinning like an idiot. "Oh yeah, he was all 'I don't normally like parties because it's a buncha drunk assholes but we're the drunk assholes now so let's go okay?' and I was like 'Yeah!' ssssooooo, then we went to this REAAAALLY fun party at one of the Jewish fraternity houses over that way," Sora waved his hand sloppily behind him to indicate "that way" before moving on. "And… and then we got bored and we were like 'Oh, hey, I miss Roxas' and I was like 'Oh, I want to talk to Riku and I miss him and I love him' and so we 'cided to come back here and here we ARE! We made it!" Sora went for a high five, but neither of the two sort-of sober boys was having it. There was still something left unexplained, and it was important. Even more so considering that they were still incredibly high.

"Okay, Sora, that's all great," Roxas sighed, yanking Axel up into a sitting position and turning the ginger's head to display the evidence, "but what the fuck is this then?"

"WOAAAAHHH!" Sora said loudly, eyes bugging out comically. Riku stifled a snort with his hand and gave Roxas an apologetic look, waiting for his boyfriend to explain. "Dude, that hickey is SO much worse than I thought! When he shoved that chick off it was barely even a red spot, hoooolly shit!"

Roxas slumped slightly, putting together the pieces and feeling a surge of relief. Sora hadn't done anything with Axel, of course he hadn't! Riku looked visibly relieved as well, and was barely resisting the urge to completely crush Sora in a hug.

"That's the OTHER part of the story I gotta tell you guys, okay? Because, like, Roxas, Axel didn't cheat on you AT ALL! That girl was literally fucking bonkers and she just jumped on top of him on the couch - LEGITIMATELY jumped like three feet in the air and landed on him - and then she just slapped her mouth on his neck and sucked super hard and Axel was all 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING I'M GAY AND I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!' and half-shoved her off and she stumbled up and tried to get at him again but then I was sitting there too so I stood up and blocked her with my body and I was like 'This is my fucking BEST FRIEND'S boyfriend, do not touch!' and she like… well she passed out after that because I think she was so drunk that she didn't even know what was going on anymore and I seriously saw her drink like thirteen drinks during flip cup so…"

Roxas and Riku slumped in relief one more time, considerably happier than before. They were properly feeling their highs again as well, so they quickly made a decision.

They nodded at each other, their simpatico increased after their day-long hangout.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Roxas grumbled, yanking Axel into a standing position only to be bear hugged by the taller boy, halting his movements.

"Roxy, I'm not as drunk as you think, ya know," he murmured, biting the blond's ear.

Roxas rolled his eyes and dragged Axel away, shaking his head and grinning at Riku who returned the look.

Then… he turned to Sora.

"What to do with you…" he murmured, preparing himself for a long night.

* * *

**End Notes:** The story of the hickey has been told! Yeah, this is just filler, okay? I know, it's ridiculous to write so many little filler chapters but I like doing it so it's going to continue to happen tbh.


	7. Scar Tissue

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** Scar Tissue (and I hope you already freaking know who it's by but in case you don't) by Red Hot Chili Peppers

**Jessica would like you to note: **Half of the time, I have no idea how I feel about what I'm writing anymore, to be honest. Not that I dislike it when all is said and done, but sometimes I'll have something written for like... weeks, but I won't publish it because I'll just be sitting there like "No, no, this sucks, I need to fix it, fuck," and then I end up publishing it anyways soo... long story short, that's what's been taking me so long. Sometimes I'll get a burst of writing power and then suddenly it just... poofs away. All gone! That's been happening a lot lately, and I don't know how to feel about this chapter. For better or worse, I'm pushing forward! YOSH!

* * *

**Scar Tissue**

"Sora get in bed," Riku murmured, sighing as the brunet flopped face-first into the duvet. "Not like that!" he grunted, flipping his annoyingly drunk partner before shoving him against the wall unceremoniously. The smaller boy was nonplussed, simply grinning with half-closed eyes and stroking the wall.

"I looooove you Riku," he sang, rolling almost on top of the party being addressed as soon as he was also in bed. Riku rolled his eyes but let Sora be, hoping that in the few moments they spent that way, he really would fall asleep. And it seemed like he was going to get his wish. It had been a full five minutes - Riku had counted. There was NO WAY he could have stayed still that long unless he was asleep. 'Finally, yes!' he thought, closing his eyes slowly- Then he felt Sora's hand twitch on his chest...

"LET'S HAVE SEX!"

Riku jumped, groaning immediately as he watched Sora attempt to drag himself up on clumsy, strengthless arms. It was perfect, because it was really un-sexy.

He shoved him down roughly, knowing from experience that Sora had to practically be beaten to settle down if he was at a very specific level of drunk… which seemed to be the case. With this in mind, he used his body weight to press the boy down as much as possible, stroking his hair in a somewhat contradictory act of gentleness.

"Go the fuck to sleep," he growled.

"I don't WANNNAAAAAAAAA!" the squirming boy keened, attempting to raise himself.

"Oh my god, I love you Sora, but right now I want to strangle you-"

"You can strangle me while you're fucking me," Sora insisted, giving up on moving and instead grinning up at Riku's stern face.

Riku tried so hard… he tried sooooo hard to not let it phase him… but if he was being honest, that sounded really hot. And his body was extra sensitive because, well, weed does that. However, he also knew that with the sensitivity came some problems. Sora, being as drunk as he was, would probably take quite a long time to be satisfied. Normally, that worked in Riku's favor because he'd always been pretty, ahem, unmatched in the stamina department. But this did not apply when he'd been smoking. In the past, every time he'd tried to have sex with Sora while high he'd been a five-pump chump, coming and running out of energy so quickly that it was embarrassing. Fortunately, those times had been early on, and Sora had still been a bit too overwhelmed by the whole thing to notice much. Now, however, Riku knew his lover would realize quickly, and he would not be happy. So, in the interest of sparing himself the grating sound of Sora's whiny drunk voice, he continued stroking the spiky hair under his fingers, doing so softly until it was nearly flat.

"Riku?" Sora said quietly, his breathing fairly even.

The silver-haired boy almost ignored it, but it had sounded vaguely genuine, so…

"Yeah, Sora?"

There was a pause, then a slight adjustment before Sora spoke again, this time sounding far more sober than Riku realized he was.

"You still love me?"

"Of course I do!" He sat up, looking down at the blue-eyed boy still laying against the sheets. "Why would you even question it?"

"Because I… I've been acting so… fucking childish-"

"Hey, Sora, look," Riku interrupted, leaning down to take his lover's face in his hands, "I will never, ever, stop loving you. Even if you betrayed me, I would still love you. Even if you killed someone, I would still fucking love you." He felt Sora grip one of his wrists, not asking for him to remove his hand, but holding on to him in the easiest way possible as he squeezed his eyes shut and tears dribbled from under the lids. Riku felt his heart clench, as always, his body going into near-panic mode just from seeing Sora cry. He almost didn't continue, knowing it would cause more tears, but he did because he had to. He had to convey what he felt right then, because he might not get a better chance. "I might not LIKE you after something like that," he continued softly, stroking a hand through the soft hair just within his reach, "but I would still love you. I wouldn't be able to help it. It would drive me crazy… you drive me crazy already. I can't even comprehend living without you anymore. It's like trying to imagine colors that I've never seen. It's impossible." Sora let out a little noise and gasped, nodding and clutching Riku's wrist tighter. After a moment, he yanked the sturdier boy closer with all of his strength, nuzzling up to his chest and completely wrapping his arms around him, scrabbling to find a grip on the back of his shirt.

"I- love- you- too-," Sora sniffled, biting Riku through the cloth covering his torso.

"Ow! Sora, quit that-"

"I can't help it, dammit!" Sora yelled, squeezing until Riku almost couldn't breathe. "I spent all day trying to drink it away, not even talking about it or thinking about it… how I treated you… the fight we had and didn't completely resolve… I'm sorry, Riku! This whole time I've just been believing you hated me, and that you deserved to, but you don't hate me at all and… I love you!"

Riku made an entirely involuntary noise and squeezed Sora back, tears of his own forming. "Sora, I would never hate you for what is really my fault!" he choked, scrubbing at his eyes. "I've been acting like a dickhead, always thinking I know best for you when I haven't even told you what I think. Trying to control you like that… it was wrong. I was just so scared that you wouldn't stay with me if you found someone better and… I didn't talk to you about it. Instead, I just tried to control you so I could control the relationship and keep you from ever trying to leave me. I'm… I'm so sorry. Now that I know… I will always make sure I talk to you first. I will always tell you what I'm thinking and it will be your choice what you do, no matter what. I'll always be here for you if you need support."

Sora nodded, clutching on tightly with renewed vigor. "And I promise I'll really listen to you instead of just getting angry. I understand now that you just want what's best for me and you were trying to express your thoughts but… I backed you into a corner, calling you controlling. Let's end this. Let's make a whole new relationship where we're completely open with each other."

Riku also nodded, breathing in the scent of the boy buried in his arms heavily. He smelled like booze and the ocean and even hints of other people, but amongst all of those foreign things there was just Sora, and that was immensely comforting to Riku in that moment. He pressed a kiss to the edge of his hairline, relishing the warmth and slight dampness he found there. Even his sweat was precious, even his tears were beautiful, even the way he sniffled was incredible because Riku loved him and would never stop loving him and that made every single thing about him overwhelmingly dear. He let himself get wrapped up in the feeling of the smaller boy in his arms as he drifted off to sleep, the sound of their mingled breathing slowing at exactly the same pace and lulling him deeper and deeper.

Thus, he was not even aware of having slept when he awoke and found Sora also just stirring to life. They looked at each other, and for a moment everything felt fresh again, like they really had completely started over. Riku grinned despite his horrible cotton mouth and was struck by the grin he received back. He didn't bother stopping his own instincts and lovingly, laughingly smothered his boyfriend with a kiss and rough hug, rolling on top of him.

They both continued to chuckle and press slowly intensifying kisses to each others' lips until it grew less carefree and more breathy and ardent. It wasn't long before Riku found himself pinning Sora's arms above his head, tongue clashing with the smaller boy's as a pair of legs wrapped around his waist. It was there that he paused, noting just how out of breath and groggy they both were and feeling just a bit guilty for a few reasons.

"Good morning," he murmured, using one of his hands to brush Sora's hair away from his forehead.

Sora grinned and made a small noise of contentment, nuzzling Riku's face.

'Why is he so… fricking adorable!' Riku thought, hugging his lover tight again.

After a few minutes, Sora made a throat-clearing noise and quietly said, "Uhh, as much as I'm enjoying the lovey-dovey morning time, I'm dying of thirst and I have a big headache so…"

"Oh, right!"

Riku jumped up hastily, pressing Sora down as the boy attempted to follow.

"I'll get you some water and ibuprofen so… you should shower or something," he murmured, heart jumping at the way Sora smiled and kissed his hand appreciatively. It felt like… they were newlyweds or something. He was well overexcited by it, and soon he found himself carried away by the mood, joining Sora in the shower, kissing lovingly all over his body and enjoying the way all that wet skin felt under his palms. And then he was treated to the sight of his lover thrusting his hips on top of him, clearly enjoying Riku inside of him… it made him shudder and narrow his eyes more than in the past. It drove him over the edge so easily. He was losing it.

"Everything feels kind of… fresh," Sora panted, laying against Riku's chest post-orgasm. He pushed himself up Riku stared, practically gushing with love. They both grinned like idiots.

"Yeah, it does," the silver haired boy responded, his voice barely a whisper as he leaned up to press his lips against the other beloved pair that belonged to him. "Let's fight all the time."

Sora laughed and cuffed him over the head, and the two boys continued kissing for hours after, neither realizing how uncannily (unfortunately) accurate Riku's facetious remark would soon come to be.

* * *

**End Notes:** WHOMP. I'm getting excited for the next few chapters. This is not even the beginning. The shit is REALLY gonna hit the fan… coming soon!


	8. Dry Ice

**Pairing(s):** Sora/Riku, Axel/Roxas (giving them chapters, too, actually). Ventus/Terra (surprise!), and Xemnas/Saix. Etc. They don't all really matter.

**Warning:** The sex. Lots of it. Marijuana use and underaged drinking. Cursing, stereotyping and offensiveness. Sora being continually irresistible. Cliches like you ain't never SEEN. Mega-yaoi gushiness and conventionalized scenarios. People being fucking stupid and misunderstanding each other, as usual. Woeful artists babbling about Baruch Spinoza. Many more songs that I love and do not own as titles. And probably other things I'm forgetting...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own things. Any things.

**Title:** Dry Ice by Pure X

**Jessica would like you to note: **Guess what? It's Axel and Roxas time. I hope you all don't mind but even if you do it's uhhh… it's gonna happen. And I'm going to enjoy writing them because I loooooove them. Idk if I've mentioned that Axel is my favorite kh character and Roxas is a very close second? They're SO COMPELLING I MEAN COME ON GREAT CHARACTERS GUYS! Anyways, enough of my fangirling. ✌

* * *

**Dry Ice**

Roxas sighed as he slung Axel unceremoniously from his shoulders onto the couch, taking a seat next to his lover with a deflated flop. He glanced over at the other party and immediately regretted it, feeling incredibly annoyed just looking at him. He was drunk beyond belief, he had a hickey, his already unruly red mane was full of sand… everything was just supremely irritating to Roxas, in that moment, and he forgot, briefly, why he'd ever fallen in love with his lanky partner at first sight. Then a heavy skull contacted his shoulder roughly and he was treated to a lapful of sand and he remembered why, smirking calmly and shaking his head. He couldn't help but laugh.

He grabbed Axel's head and started vigorously ruffling his hair, dispelling more of the sand trapped in the tangles.

"You're vacuuming this up tomorrow you know," he murmured to his half-unconscious partner, grinning at the thought.

"Roxyyyyy," Axel moaned, flipping his head up and giving Roxas a surprisingly sober-looking grin. It was deceptive, and they both knew it, but Roxas was more than happy to indulge the redhead as he began yanking him into his lap and pressing his lips up and down the length of his neck. It felt nice, for many reasons. First of all, Axel was really good. At sex. He was obviously really experienced, which was something Roxas pretended not to think about. Another reason, however, was that Roxas was in love with Axel, and Axel was in love with him, and it was immensely gratifying to know that the person he'd spent so much time agonizing over after just one look came to reciprocate his feelings. It was just too nice. And then, on top of all of that, some girl had tried to seduce his man, and failed, because Axel was all his. He loved that, and the feeling carried over into their activities on the couch, heightening Roxas' sensitivity as Axel's hand traveled under his shirt to pull one nipple, the other tangled in his blond hair. He felt himself moan Axel's name, unable to control the reflex when five deft fingers trailed over his skin just at the edge of his belt-buckle. An intense surge shot through his lower body, dictating that it was time for the teasing to stop.

He grabbed the hand dancing just at the edge of his pants and shoved it in himself, permitting the grin he felt Axel give against his mouth only because he was feeling way too good. The taller boy's tongue slid in and laved over the roof of his mouth just as the hand gripping him finally gave a full stroke. Roxas moaned into their kiss, panting through his nose and reaching to pull off his shirt. Axel pushed him down on his back once the task was complete, stripping off his pants before Roxas could do it himself and licking here and there on his now exposed body. Roxas shivered and wound his fingers into the hair tickling his skin, jolting in surprise when Axel's mouth covered him completely, then moved to his hip bone so his hand could take over again.

"You're so sexy, Rox," Axel whispered, biting the inside of his thigh and stroking faster.

"Ah, Axel! Don't make me cum yet," Roxas breathed, "you haven't even put it in yet."

Axel grinned and bit him again, kissing his way sloppily up Roxas' body again. "Yeah, you're right," he murmured, inserting two fingers at once, already slick with saliva.

Once it'd reached that point, they lost track of themselves as always, Axel's body moving on drunken instinct while Roxas responded eagerly and unabashedly, too high to reserve himself, for once.

"Mmm, love you, love you, love you," Axel breathed against his neck, thrusting faster. "I fucking love you, Roxas."

"Oh god, Axel," Roxas moaned, "I love you too… don't stop."

They spent another three rounds expressing their love, finally feeling equally spent once they'd moved to their bed for one final go.

"Roxas you came a looooot of times," Axel murmured, forehead pressed against the blond's back as he gripped his hip and pulled out. "You high or something? You kind of smelled like weed now that I think of it."

Roxas just laughed and flopped onto his back, eyes already half-closed. "Yeah, I'm super high," he said after a moment, cracking one eye open, "Riku had some shit from his coworker so… we were bored and determined not to let you and Sora outdo us."

Axel scoffed and cuddled up to the smaller boy, grinning. "Well that should be a funny situation for Riku and Sora then. The guy probably won't last a minute."

Roxas snorted and ruffled Axel's hair, scattering sand all over their bed. They both started laughing but did nothing to fix it, no longer caring about anything aside from each other.

"You know, Ax," Roxas said thoughtfully, changing the tone, "Riku asked how you and I have so few problems. Guess he wanted tips. But I don't think those two will ever have as calm a relationship as you and I."

Axel nodded in agreement and chuckled, kissing Roxas on the nose. "It's because I'm too cute for words and you can't stay mad at me."

Roxas laughed. "Oh please. Have you seen Sora? He has those big puppy eyes and everything. You think that kid is easy to stay mad at? Riku's tough for being able to get angry with him at all."

"Mmm, well you're only saying that cuz you look like him," Axel mumbled, resting his head against Roxas' stomach, "and because you used to love that kid."

They both grew uncomfortably silent with that pronouncement made, neither knowing how to react. It was rare for them to even hint at it, let alone lay it all out like that. After a moment, the discomfort grew to be too much and Roxas moved to stand.

"Wait," Axel said quietly, grabbing him around the waist, "stay here-"

"God dammit, Axel!" Roxas grunted, shoving at the arms wound around him, "you have to go and fucking say that… are you trying to become them? You want us to fight? Because that's the way you start a fucking fight. You know it's in the past. You know that I don't harbor those feelings for him anymore and I've talked to you about this. I've told you EVERYTHING…" He paused, clenching his fists and turning slightly to face his lover who was calmly staring up at him.

"I know Roxas," the red head said quietly, squeezing tighter, "I really didn't mean anything by it, I promise. You think I would have hung out with him all day if I felt anything about that shit anymore? I'm fine, and I didn't even realize until I'd said it how it might make you feel. I swear it didn't mean anything, I'm sorry-"

"Axel you…" he paused again, trembling slightly. Why was he so worked up over it even though he claimed to be over it? Maybe it was because it was the third time his attention was being called to it within 24 hours. Or maybe it was because he needed to work through it more… Maybe he hadn't thought enough. "Ugh, I'm sorry too," he said finally, laying down again. "Maybe I'm kidding myself."

Axel leaned up on one elbow to look down at him, tracing his knuckles up and down his stomach as he did. "What do you mean, Roxy?"

For a moment, Roxas just looked at him, eyes full of unknown, unexplored emotions. There was something there, to be sure, though neither of them was certain what. Then a wave of guilt surged over him and Roxas covered his eyes, laughing mirthlessly and shaking his head.

"Maybe I need more time to heal and I haven't given myself that," he said softly, reaching out to Axel selfishly and nearly sobbing as the arms he sought came around him. "I don't deserve to have you hugging me while saying this."

"Roxas, don't say that," Axel reprimanded, hugging tighter, "It's not like there's nothing in my past. We didn't come into this with clean slates, and I don't think either of has ever harbored any delusions. I know you loved him, but I know you definitely don't hold those feelings anymore because, well, you have me. How could you possibly love that runt over someone as glorious as me?"

Roxas sputtered a laugh, knocking his head against Axel's chest. "Yeah, I guess your right, dickhead."

Axel grinned, tilting Roxas' face up towards his. "I am right, of course, because I am a magnificent being full of nothing but truth."

"Okay that's enough, idiot."

He breathed a sigh and let Axel kiss him, squeezing closer as he drifted off. 'It really does make me feel better, knowing that he loves me,' Roxas thought, 'If he wasn't here, I would be too heartbroken to even speak to Sora anymore, and then I'd be all alone…' He had no time to fret over this last thought as it filtered through his brain because, next thing he knew, he was completely dead to the world, left with much to contemplate for the next morning.

* * *

**End Notes:** Lalala, there will be more of this, sorrrryyyyyy.


End file.
